Indiana Wastewater Treatment Operator and Managers Charged with Conspiracy and Violating the Clean Water Act

United Water Services Inc. (UWS), the former contract operator of the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in Gary, Ind., and two of its employees, were charged today with conspiracy and felony violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in a 26-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, the Justice Department announced today.

UWS and employees Dwain L. Bowie, and Gregory A. Ciaccio, have been charged with manipulating daily wastewater sampling methods by turning up disinfectant treatment levels shortly before sampling, then turning them down shortly after sampling.

UWS entered into a 10-year contract to operate the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in 1998, in exchange for $9 million annually. UWS’s contract was renewed in May 2008. As contract operator, UWS handled the operation and maintenance of the treatment works, and was responsible for environmental compliance. To ensure compliance with the discharge permit, UWS was required to take periodic representative wastewater samples, including a daily sample to determine the concentration of E. coli bacteria in the wastewater.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to tamper with E. coli monitoring methods by turning up levels of disinfectant dosing prior to E. coli sampling. The indictment states that the defendants would avoid taking E. coli samples until disinfectants had reached elevated levels, which in turn were expected to lead to reduced E. coli levels. Immediately after sampling, the indictment alleges, the defendants turned down disinfectant levels, thus reducing the amount of treatment chemicals they used.

Dwain Bowie was UWS’s Project Manager for the Gary facility beginning in 2002, and was in charge of the Gary operation. Gregory Ciaccio joined Bowie’s staff in July 2003, and eventually was made the Plant Superintendent, in charge of day-to-day operations.

The CWA makes it a felony to tamper with required monitoring methods at a permitted facility like the Gary Sanitary District. If convicted, Bowie and Ciaccio face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and two years on each of the CWA counts, as well as a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for each count. The company may also face fines and/or probation.

The allegations in the indictment are mere accusations and all persons are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case was investigated by the Northern District of Indiana Environmental Crimes Task Force, including agents from the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S.E.PA., the FBI and the Indiana State Police. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

The Carolinas' Water War May Be Ending

In January 2007, the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission approved up to 10 million gallons of water per day to be withdrawn from the Catawba and used by the North Carolina cities of Concord and Kannapolis, located in the Rocky River basin. That decision sparked intense opposition in South Carolina and led to the Supreme Court filing later that year – State of South Carolina v. State of North Carolina, No. 138, Original, in the Supreme Court of the United States.

In late August this year, the Catawba-Wateree River Basin Bi-State Commission unanimously approved a resolution supporting an effort to settle the dispute using Duke Energy’s comprehensive relicensing agreement. That document, formed during a three-year span using 58,000 stakeholder hours with interest groups, resource agencies and water providers from both states, serves as Duke’s hydroelectric license application to continue operations along the Catawba beginning in 2008.

On November 12, 2010, representatives from attorney general offices in South Carolina and North Carolina presented a plan to end the Catawba River water dispute – the Carolinas’ Water War. Members of the Catawba-Wateree River Basin Advisory Commission who heard the presentation supported the arrangement. Now N.C. Sen. Clodfelter and S.C. Sen. Wes Hayes will head an effort to reach a water-use agreement between Duke Power, which uses water from the river, and legal teams from both states. Duke Energy and Catawba River Water Supply Project, both interveners in the federal case, supported the arrangement as well. Once S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster and N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper sign the agreement the Supreme Court case will be dismissed. However, McMaster has indicated that South Carolina won’t end its lawsuit until the deal is struck.

In the agreement, all users of Catawba water including interbasin transfers are subject to drought response plans “no less stringent” than those of Duke’s Low Inflow Protocol system, a much-heralded conservation tool introduced by the relicensing agreement. Both states, along with the Catawba-Wateree Water Management Group, must update the Catawba-Wateree River Basin Supply Study on water conditions every 10 years for possible modifications. For the term of Duke’s license, or until 2058, neither state is allowed to file a Supreme Court action against its neighbor as long as conditions of the agreement are followed.

OSHA's Expansion of the NEP Targeting Process Safety at Chemical Plants

An OSHA spokesperson announced today that the agency plans to expand its National Emphasis Program (NEP) which targets process safety at chemical plants. The current NEP was issued on July 27, 2009 and subsequently extended until September 30, 2010. The recent announcement means that the NEP will remain in place until the agency can establish a permanent directive which will expand the program nationwide. The focus of the program is to reduce or eliminate workplace hazards associated with catastrophic releases of highly hazardous chemicals. The program was originally designed as a pilot program with programmed inspections in Regions I, VII, and X, and unprogrammed inspections OSHA wide. The program is applicable to facilities that process or use highly hazardous chemicals (HHCs) in amounts at or greater than the threshold quantities listed in 29 CFR 1910.119. According to agency spokespersons, OSHA has issued over 600 violations, 86 percent of which were classified as either serious, willful, repeat, failure-to-abate, or unclassified.

Facilities subject to OSHA's Process Safety Management Standard can expect an increased number of facility inspections as a part of this effort. Facilities can also expect a greater focus on implementation over documentation during the inspections. OSHA will primarily utilize the following four sources to help prioritize the list of facilities for inspections:

a) Facilities required to submit U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions, Program 3 Risk Management Plans (RMP)

b) Explosives manufacturing NAICS codes

c) Facilities identified in OSHA's IMIS database as having prior PSM related incidents

d) OSHA Area Office knowledge of local facilities.