BURLEY, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Idaho Conservation League and Snake River Waterkeeper have formally notified the cities of Burley and Rexburg of their intent to sue.
The environmental groups claim wastewater treatment plants in both cities have repeatedly exceeded pollution limits set under the Clean Water Act.
“We have started that process that must begin with what’s called a 60-day notice of intent to sue. It’s a built-in feature of the Clean Water Act that says ‘Hey, before you sue anybody, you have to give them 60-day notice of what you believe these violations are,’” Will Tiedemann, regulatory conservation associate, said.
According to a joint press release from the Idaho Conservation League, the city plants have failed to comply with pollution limits for five years.
Most of these permit violations involve exceeding limits on sediment, nitrogen and biological oxygen demand at each plant.
“When we talk about significance right, for example, Burley-Heyburn Industrial Park, we saw violations anywhere from 3 percent to 1,738 percent above permitted levels. For the city of Rexburg, we’re talking about 4 percent over to almost 2,400 percent over,” Tiedemann said.
However, Tiedemann said there are a few factors why wastewater plants are struggling to meet these limits.
“Perhaps the most common factor is just aging equipment as cities. As Idaho grows and cities grow, you have more wastewater to treat that with equipment that is reaching, is getting old; it was never designed to handle as much as you are trying to push through it,” he said.
In the city of Burley, the treatment plant discharges wastewater into the Snake River, upstream from recreation areas, and the Rexburg facility discharges into the South Fork of the Teton River.
Tiedemann said that these pollutants can have serious environmental impacts, putting Idaho’s waterways at risk.
“Everyone depends on clean water, everybody whether its various recreational benefits has something to gain from that. We know water is precious and both the quantity and the quality of it is precious,” he said.
Burley City Administrator Brett Boyer said the city has been made aware of the suit and wants the public to know it has made great efforts to meet its responsibilities regarding industrial wastewater and will continue to do so.
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