Chlorine spills to cost Newport fine of $61,533.Byline: Andrea Damewood The Register-Guard NEWPORT - The state Department of Environmental Quality fined the city of Newport more than $60,000 after its drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. treatment plant sent wastewater containing large amounts of chlorine chlorine (klōr`ēn, klôr`–) [Gr.,=green], gaseous chemical element; symbol Cl; at. no. 17; at. wt. 35.453; m.p. −100.98°C;; b.p. −34.6°C;; density 3.2 grams per liter at STP; valence −1, +1, +3, +5, +7. into a nearby creek during the course of 10 months. The DEQ DEQ Abbreviation for the Incoterm "Delivered Ex Quay." said high levels of chlorine were emptied into Anderson Creek Anderson Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania in the United States. See also
The discharges continued despite warnings in February and June, said Jeff Bachman, environmental law specialist for the DEQ office of compliance and enforcement. "We don't deny that we had water spilling," city engineer Lee Ritzman said. "In fact, we called them." Ritzman said his department informed the DEQ, as is required by law, when a settling pond became too full of sediment, causing water to overflow into the creek. After informing the state, Newport began working with a consultant to figure out how to remove the sediment, which is "too thin to shovel and too thick to pump," Ritzman said. Chlorine is highly toxic highly toxic Occupational medicine adjective Referring to a chemical that 1. Has a median lethal dose–LD50 of ≤ 50 mg/kg when administered orally to 200-300 g albino rats 2. to fish and other aquatic life. A DEQ survey in August found that insect numbers and diversity in Anderson Creek were two-thirds lower downstream of the discharge point when compared with measurements taken upstream. Each time an overflow occurred, the city recorded chlorine levels and sent them to the DEQ, Ritzman said. The DEQ said the chlorine level in the wastewater was as high as 0.5 milligrams per liter, well above the state standard of 0.019 mg/L for chlorine. Newport has had no previous environmental infractions with the state, but the penalty of $61,533 is higher than most leveled at first-time violators, Bachman said. He said the city shouldn't have allowed the sediment pond to become full in the first place, and it should have worked to fix the problem more quickly. "We were working at a way to get it done since we found out about it," said Ritzman, adding that work could not be done in winter months because the soil was too wet. Filters in the plant that strain fine particles Fine particles are an air pollutant mainly produced by cars running on diesel. Other sources are the combustion of fossil fuels in power plants and various industrial processes. from drinking water are cleaned regularly, Bachman said. Chlorinated chlorinated /chlo·ri·nat·ed/ (klor´i-nat?ed) treated or charged with chlorine. chlorinated charged with chlorine. chlorinated acids some, e.g. water and the particles from the filter are sent to a settling pond, where the sediment collects in the bottom and the water is recycled. Normally, the particles are allowed to sink to the bottom of the pond, but too much sediment had accumulated, causing an overflow. The city has 20 days to appeal the fine, and is likely to do so, Ritzman said. |
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