EPA and Mississippi Announce Clean Water Act

December 6, 2012 - The city of Jackson, Miss., has agreed to improve its sewer systems and waste management as part of a comprehensive Clean Water Act settlement recently announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ).

The City of Jackson agreed to eliminate unauthorized overflows of untreated raw sewage and bypasses of treatment at the Savanna Street Wastewater Treatment Plant, the city’s largest wastewater treatment facility.

When wastewater systems overflow, they can release untreated sewage and other pollutants into local waterways, threatening water quality and the environment while contributing to beach closures and disease outbreaks. One of the EPA’s national-enforcement initiatives is to keep raw sewage and contaminated storm water out of water systems.

“Today’s settlement will lead to improvements in the management of wastewater overflows, which will reduce water pollution and benefit the Jackson community for years to come,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

To read the full press release

More about the settlement

More information on EPA’s national enforcement initiative

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