E.P.A. orders City of North Las Vegas to safeguard Las Vegas Wash from potential water pollution

SAN FRANCISCO - The E.P.A. issued an order to the City of North Las Vegas to take immediate steps to address federal Clean Water Act violations. Deficiencies in the management of its wastewater pretreatment plan have the potential to lead to discharges of polluted water from the city's Water Reclamation Facility into the Las Vegas Wash, which eventually feeds into Lake Mead.

E.P.A. requires cities to develop a plan to regulate pollutants coming from industrial users of the municipal wastewater treatment systems that may contaminate sewage sludge or interfere with the treatment. This action is a result of EPA's September 2014 inspection to determine the city's compliance with the requirements in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and the General Pretreatment Regulations.

"Despite a tight budget, the city will be making a necessary and wise investment by bringing its wastewater pretreatment plan into compliance with federal standards,' said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA's Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. "Additional resources will help ensure that the city's wastewater infrastructure will be better protected from industrial pollution.'

In 2011, the City completed construction of a new wastewater treatment facility on Betty Lane in North Las Vegas, Nev., but failed to develop and seek approval for its new pretreatment program. E.P.A. found that the City of North Las Vegas did not evaluate its permitting process and ensure that it controls the contribution of each industrial user to the plant through current, unexpired permits. In addition, the city failed to allocate the proper resources and qualified personnel to adequately implement its pretreatment program.

The order requires a commitment of staffing and financial resources on behalf of the city to make enhancements to its pretreatment program. Once implemented, it will be in compliance with EPA's standards, which will prevent the introduction of pollutants that can cause environmental and public health concerns, and shorten the life of the infrastructure.

The order establishes federally enforceable timelines and requires the City of North Las Vegas to:

As authorized by the Clean Water Act, the NPDES permit plan controls water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants into waters of the United States.

For more information on National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/index.html

For more information on Water Compliance and Enforcement, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/enforcement.html

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