Wednesday, March 26, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
Nevada ranks in the top 10 states with the highest percentage of water treatment facilities in "significant noncompliance" with the Clean Water Act, a national environmental group said.
Water treatment systems in Boulder City, Sparks and Fallon violated the act, according to "Dirty Water Scoundrels," a report released today by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group in Salt Lake City.
Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, South Carolina, Florida, Utah, West Virginia, Rhode Island and Tennessee rounded out the top 10 for 1995, the latest year for which complete records are available.
But the reports tell only half the story, according to Joseph Livak, enforcement officer for the Nevada Bureau of Water Quality Standards.
Boulder City, for example, is in the process of changing its discharge permit, since its wastewater doesn't run into any surface waters or dry washes, Livek said. The state is reviewing the city's use of Lemna, a new technology combining duck weed and plastic lattice work that treats the wastewater streams.
Fallon's problems ended at the end of 1995 after it got its holding ponds cleaned out. The state assessed a $5,000 penalty.
In the Reno-Sparks area, snails are gorging on bacteria in wastewater, clogging up the treatment plant, Livak said. The area has until May 1 to solve the problem.
None of Southern Nevada's major water treatment plants made the PIRG list, said Adele Basham, director of Nevada's Bureau of Water Quality Standards.
But PIRG's report said that a review of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data shows nearly 20 percent of the 6,884 major treatment plants in the nation or its territories failed to meet Clean Water Act permit standards.
PIRG blamed lax enforcement as the cause of failure to meet standards.
The group recommended mandatory minimum penalties, eliminating economic benefits, allowing citizens to sue local agencies and increased access to data and whistleblower protection.
Two related bills are being introduced in Congress this session. Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., is sponsoring the Federal Clean Water Enforcement Act of 1997, a bill to make polluters pay for violations and strengthening citizens' rights.
Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., is introducing the Federal Facilities Clean Water Compliance Act, a bill to level the playing field for federal polluters. Federal facilities accounted for 28 percent of the top 10 list.
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