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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Environment - New Energy Corp. apparently protests South Bend's pretreatment permit requirements
Jamie Loo reports today in the South Bend Tribune:
New Energy Corp. has asked a judge for relief from a new, more stringent, city water discharge permit for its ethanol plant.The company claims the city issued the new permit, which it considers inconsistent and arbitrary, in January without a proper hearing. New Energy asks St. Joseph Circuit Judge Michael Gotsch for a declaratory judgment to find the city's hearing process insufficient and void the permit.
New Energy and the city were negotiating an administrative order last summer, which led to an order New Energy claims it tried to appeal. An administrative order is a pretreatment program that asks an industry to treat a pollutant before discharging it into public waters.
The administrative order requires New Energy to pre-treat its wastewater, and to install meters and other equipment to test its wastewater discharge. It also asks New Energy to submit to a hydrogen sulfide management plan to lessen the alleged impact on the city's pipes downstream and the odors that come from it. Hydrogen sulfide is one of the causes of sewer odor.
The suit filed by New Energy says that after contacting the city to review and appeal the order in early September, the company received no other contact from the city until the water discharge permit was issued. The permit contains all of the elements New Energy objected to in the administrative order.
The organic waste from New Energy discharged into the sewers has been considered one of the causes of the noxious odors.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on March 6, 2008 08:04 AM
Posted to Environment