Sue your town!!!!

larkmark

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Jun 11, 2019
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I was looking tonight online and found that many citizens conservation groups have filed lawsuits against municipalities that have substandard wastewater treatment systems. I am not sure if this has been an effective way to get any action to be taken but I am curious. Having sat through meetings with township supervisors and with local conservation groups and even PAFBC meetings I have come to the conclusion that nothing ever really happens and the clock keeps ticking. Tired of the blowhards and their BS and propaganda.
 
Wawater plant upgrades cost big time money, so if you are going to sue your own municipality you will be increasing your out of pocket costs in more ways than one. Lots of progress has been made in this specific arena, but there are still plenty of systems that need a complete overhaul. One has to look no further than the city of Harrisburg.
 
Here is just one of very many examples I found online. In this instance the suit resulted in the city bringing the treatment facility into compliance. It did take a lawsuit though to get them to do so.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/2016/08/17/settlement-approved-between-franklin-harpeth-river-group/88910230/

Relying on existing laws or government agencies to make these cities do the right thing just is not an option I guess.
 
Wawater plant upgrades cost big time money, so if you are going to sue your own municipality you will be increasing your out of pocket costs in more ways than one. Lots of progress has been made in this specific arena, but there are still plenty of systems that need a complete overhaul. One has to look no further than the city of Harrisburg.

Exactly right here. I believe this would generally be a bad idea most years but especially this year. Plenty of people hurting economically due to lockdowns or restrictions.
Plant next to mine closed down and we are hiring some of the employees.
Now is not the time to shoot off your foot.
 
The Federal Clean Water Act has (or had the last I knew..) a Citizen's Suit provision where individuals can assume legal standing and sue polluters for loss of recreational opportunities or use of a waterway due to non-compliance and exceeding discharge limts, etc. Usually, these actions are undertaken by a group who provides an attorney(s) to argue the individual citizens case if it ever gets to court, which it most often does not.

The main benefit of this approach when dealing with municipalities that are out of compliance is to serve to break up funding bottlenecks and issues which are the most common reason discharges are not meeting standards. In pollution cases, it has been very common for the courts to issue consent decrees which recognize the current inability of the municipality to afford the upgrades and gives them x amount of time to get it fixed. In the meantime, the discharge can continue. The problem with consent decrees is that that often get extended again and again and the problem never gets fixed. Things just drag on and on.

Filing 60 notice of intent to bring a citizen's suit under CWA can serve to breakup the inertia and get things moving again. The allowable fines under CWA are (or were..) up to $25K per day per discharge parameter out of compliance. This can add up to a pile of $ real quick and tends to get people's attention. But generally, these cases actually go to court pretty rarely. A settlement is reached, the money is found somewhere and more often than not, things get fixed sooner rather than later.

So, that's the value of these sorts of actions...


 
l I believe this would generally be a bad idea most years but especially this year. Plenty of people hurting economically due to lockdowns or restrictions.
Plant next to mine closed down and we are hiring some of the employees.
Now is not the time to shoot off your foot.

You bring up a good point. However, there may not be a need for additional tax revenues. Maybe a suit would realign the spending priorities of the offending municipality such that money gets pulled from other project and allocated to fixing the sewage treatment problem. Without the threat of fines, there may not be the political motivation to reallocate.

Another possible benefit is job creation to build more modern sewage treatment plants.
 
Sure, cost them more money instead of trying to help by going to meetings and giving input. Then they can get out of the business of running waste water treatment and you can complain when your taxes can double rvtriple because they had to contract it out to someone who can charge double or more to do the same job. But its a contractor rather than your local govt so its even harder to oversee. Do that! Careful what you wish for...
 
Tom- How many meetings and going to the township and hearing from local leaders that we should all have rain barrels is enough? Been there and done that. Meanwhile lower river and other tributaries got worse and worse. 30 yrs of talk and "we need to do more studies" is enough.
 
https://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2020/07/23/Tom-Wolf-administration-provides-66M-in-funding-for-Pennsylvania-water-infrastructure-projects/stories/202007230112

The state recently announced $66 million in funding for water and waste water treatment and collection facilities. Take note that none of these projects are for new treatment systems. Often times, new sewer plants costs range into the hundred million plus range. Below is a short snippet.

**Western Westmoreland Municipal Authority – received an $11,025,000 loan to install approximately 18,000 feet of sanitary sewer line and manholes, while also stabilizing streambanks along local waterways. The project will eliminate regional stream pollution and address a DEP consent order.
 
Sometimes suing or threatening to sue a local government gets results.

In this case, for Valley Forge TU and other conservation groups, it got results >

https://pennenvironment.org/news/pae/environmental-groups-threat-lawsuit-brings-action-protect-valley-forge-valley-creek

 
larkmark wrote:
Tom- How many meetings and going to the township and hearing from local leaders that we should all have rain barrels is enough? Been there and done that. Meanwhile lower river and other tributaries got worse and worse. 30 yrs of talk and "we need to do more studies" is enough.

You elected these people, right?
 
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