Monroe settles wastewater suit for $60,000

MONROE – The city recently reached a $60,000 settlement for violating the state’s wastewater treatment requirements.

Sustainable Fisheries, a Snohomish-based environmental group, will use the money to improve the habitat in a local waterway, said John Lande, the city’s wastewater treatment plant manager.

Seattle-based Waste Action Project filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tacoma in June 2003, saying the city’s wastewater plant had repeatedly released pollutants into the Skykomish River.

The plant violated the state’s permit requirements at least 50 times between January 1999 and June 2003, said Amy Jankowiak, an environmental specialist with the State Department of Ecology. The violations included releasing the metals zinc, mercury and copper into the river above the permit’s limit, she said.

The city finished an $8 million upgrade to the 1950s treatment plant in June 2002 and has fully complied with the state requirement since mid-2003, she added.

As part of the settlement, the city will sample incoming water to identify sources of the heavy metals, the court documents say. It also will educate the public about releasing heavy metals and toxic pollutants into the sewer system.

“That’s good for the city, good for its people and good for the environment,” Paul Kampmeier, an attorney who represents Waste Action Project, said of the settlement.

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