FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1996 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 EPA (212) 637-3669 U.S. AND PUERTO RICO AQUEDUCT AND SEWER AUTHORITY REACH ACCORD ON WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANTS SAN JUAN -- The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to spend more than $20 million to bring 31 of its wastewater treatment plants into compliance with permit limits under an agreement announced today by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. PRASA will also pay $375,000 in penalties to settle claims that its wastewater treatment plants violated the Clean Water Act by routinely discharging more pollution than their permits allowed and failing to abide by Court imposed maintenance and operating standards and a schedule for plant-by-plant improvements. Under the terms of the settlement, filed in U.S. District Court in San Juan, PRASA will conduct a study to determine which of the plants will require the installation of advanced wastewater treatment (AWT) technologies to meet permit limitations. The agreement requires PRASA to pay additional penalties if it fails to meet the construction schedule for installing AWT or if the plants exceed their interim permit limits. The Clean Water Act requires that sewage treatment facilities remove a substantial amount of solids and organic matter from wastewater before it is discharged into a waterway. However, some bodies of water have more stringent water quality standards, requiring even higher levels of wastewater treatment, known as AWT, in order to maintain such standards. "This is a win-win agreement: both the environment and the people of Puerto Rico will benefit," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Regional Administrator. "By bringing its plants into compliance, PRASA will significantly improve the water quality of Puerto Rico's rivers and streams." "This settlement is designed to resolve an almost two decade old problem once and for all," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "It will result in a cleaner environment for all the people of Puerto Rico while providing substantial penalties that should deter noncompliance." This settlement ends almost 20 years of efforts by the government to bring PRASA into compliance with its wastewater permits. The federal government first sued PRASA in 1978, because its 92 sewage plants chronically exceeded the allowable levels of pollution discharged to the waters of Puerto Rico. The U.S. and PRASA reached a settlement that same year, but over the next 5 years, PRASA failed to meet the terms of the agreement. The United States brought the current lawsuit in 1983. In 1985, and again in 1988, the federal court ordered PRASA to meet a plant-by-plant improvement schedule and adopt numerous provisions relating to the operation and maintenance of the plants. The Court also appointed a monitor to inspect the plants on a quarterly basis and provide a report on violations of its orders. Since that time, PRASA has made continued improvements at its facilities. Two-thirds of its wastewater plants have been removed from the improvement schedule with the approval of the court because they were either replaced by new facilities or have been brought into compliance. The settlement announced today covers the remaining 31 plants still subject to the Court's 1985 order. ### 96-492