McPHERSON, Kan. — McPherson City Commissioners Tuesday will consider an administrative consent order with the Environmental Protection Agency involving pre-treatment activities at the city’s Wastewater Treatment Plant. Deficiencies were identified in a scheduled Pretreatment Program Audit conducted in July, 2024. Information provided to the Commission indicated the issues of concern do not impact public safety, McPherson’s water supply, or the treatment plant itself.
The consent order is a voluntary agreement with negotiated terms and assumes no admission of liability, unlike an administrative unilateral order that is mandatory and involves certain levels of enforcement without the ability to negotiate. The EPA Order was unexpected, but also easily achievable since all the items needing addressed were already in development.
WWTF, Public Works and Legal have had several virtual meetings with EPA to clarify the intent and expectations of the Order. The WWTF Superintendent and KDHE administration have been very collaborative throughout the past many years in keeping a well maintained and highly efficient facility.
There are four specific instances cited alleging failure to implement the city’s pretreatment program.
- Failure to monitor Pfizer for Methylene Chloride-Amyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Isopropyl Acetate for at least the past five years.
- Failure to develop adequate local limits to prevent interference and pass through as required, or demonstrate that they are not necessary
- Failure to incorporate all of the requirements of the streamline rule.
- Failure to ensure that the POTW shall have sufficient resources and qualified personnel to carry out the authorities and procedures of the first two points, and that the city has not designated sufficient resources to the pretreatment program.
In terms of what has been done, the incomplete sampling for Pfizer was taken care of shortly after the audit. It was indicated local limits sampling and calculation will be taken care of in a maximum of 60 days. A new composite sampler is being obtained as the existing unit failed. It’s also anticipated at this time the city will probably determine that local limits are not needed beyond the EPA default values, which are what is currently being used.
A final draft of the SUO streamlining has been completed and will be sent to KDHE for their initial review and CC EPA so they can see we are almost there. After KDHE approval we will review with legal counsel before adoption.
The report which will be presented to the Commission Tuesday says a formula/calculation was established when the pretreatment program was initially set up. It breaks down the costs to operate the program in order to establish the monthly permit fee to each industry with the intent to cover the cost of the program.
Those fee values have not been significantly updated since they were put in place. New Calculations have been done, and will be reviewed for adoption later this year. The program itself only requires a part-time position, not full time. The WWTF Superintendent can fulfill this alongside other duties. Cross training for other staff positions will be pursued to ensure appropriate resources are designated.
