Detroit wastewater ordinance amended: businesses will save millions of dollars in compliance costs as a result of changes negotiated by the Chamber.

The Detroit City Council recently amended the ordinance that regulates the discharge of wastewater from industry into the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) system. The amendment as originally proposed had significant negative impacts on industry, potentially causing many of them to go out of business or spend large sums of money that would result in very little, if any, benefit to the environment.

The Detroit Regional Chamber's Water and Sewer Task Force was very involved in providing comments on the proposed amendment both with DWSD and the City Council, along with negotiating the final amendment, as passed by the City Council. As a result of the Chamber's actions, millions of dollars have been saved by companies that discharge into the DWSD sewer system.

The major proposed changes from the existing ordinance concerned discharge limits and the use of best management practices, or BMPs. The most significant discharge limit reduction proposed by DWSD was the change of phosphorous from 500 milligrams per liter to a mere 16 mg/l. A number of companies determined that if the proposed phosphorus limit of 16 mg/l was passed, they would be forced out of business. Other companies estimated that costs to comply with the proposed limit would range from approximately $100,000 to more than $1 million.

Many companies were not even aware of the proposed change or its impact on them. For example, the Chamber determined that one of the hardest-hit industries would be food processors, grocery stores and car washes, which use large quantities of cleaning agents. Many of these companies do not have DWSD permits and received no notice of the proposed change.

Importantly, the more stringent limits would have had little, if any, benefit on the environment. Wastewater that is discharged into the DWSD system is directed to the DWSD's treatment plant. The treatment plant further treats the wastewater before it is discharged. This discharge is regulated by a permit issued to DWSD by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. DWSD has basically been in compliance with its permit limits for phosphorus and the limits of other compounds that it was proposing to change.

The language concerning the limit for total PCBs and mercury also has been changed and provides users with an option of demonstrating compliance if either PCBs or mercury are detected in wastewater. An additional significant change is that DWSD may require the discharger to implement pollution prevention initiatives or best management practices as part of an enforcement response.

DWSD has sent out notices to all existing permitted industrial users of the new amendment. Users now are required to submit a compliance report to DWSD within 180 days after the March 11, 2005 effective date of the ordinance. The compliance report is required to demonstrate the user's ability to comply with the new limits. In the event that a company cannot comply with the new limits, then the company must submit a plan and a schedule for coming into compliance. DWSD will also issue amendments to existing permits to reflect the new changes. Be sure to review those changes carefully and inform your laboratory of any changes, especially as it relates to cyanide and phenols.

The amendment, as passed, makes sense, reaching a balance between operating businesses in the DWSD service area and protecting the environment. This result would not have occurred without the hard work of the members of the Chamber's Water and Sewer Task Force.

Beth S. Gotthelf is an attorney and shareholder at Butzel Long, a Silver-level member of the Detroit Regional Chamber. She practices in the area of environmental law and regulation.

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The new ordinance includes these changes to limits:

                              Parameter (in mg/l)
                                     DWSD
                           Previous  Proposed  Final
                           Limit     Change    Limit

Fats, Oils and Grease       2,000      750     1,500
Total Suspended Solids     10,000    2,290     7,500
Biochemical Oxygen Demand  10,000    1,200     7,500
Phosphorus                    500       16       250
Cadmium                         2.0      0.12      1.0