Safe Drinking Water Act

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• Safe Drinking Water Act

John N. Gillis, Ph.D. U.S. EPA, Region
VIII Denver, Colorado
Office of Enforcement, Compliance,
and Environmental Justice Technical Enforcement
Program
2

• What is a Public Water System?

• PWS provides water for human consumption
• Regularly serves at least 25 persons
• OR
• Has at least 15 service connections

Private wells serving less than 25 persons are
not regulated.
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• Types of Public Water Systems

• Community
• Non-community
• Transient non-community
• Non-transient non-community

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• Regulations for Public Water Systems

• Safe Drinking Water Act
• National Primary Drinking Water Regulations
• 40 CFR Part 141
• Most States have "Primacy"
• EPA has Direct implementation
• Wyoming
• Indian Country

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• Types of Requirements

• Sampling and Reporting
• Record Keeping
• Public Notification

These requirements depend on the type of PWS,
number of persons served, source of the water.
Requirements are complicated!
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• Enforcement of the SDWA

• Violation Letters
• Administrative
• Emergency Administrative Order
• Civil Judicial
• Criminal

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• Common Violations of the SDWA/NPDWRs

• Monitoring violations
• Maximum Contaminant Level violations
• Failure to do Public Notice
• Failure to report the violation

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• Case Study - You do not want your PWS as the next
  example!!!!

• Ayers National Bridge County Park
• Near Douglas, WY
• July 18, 1992 - several company picnics
• About 150 people got sick - all recovered
• Drinking water contaminated with Shigella
• organism found in human and animal feces
• not all that common
• EPA notified on about August 4, 1992
• EPA issued an Emergency Order on August 8, 1992 -
  boil order

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• As Federal Facilities - you are special!

• SDWA amended in 1996
• SDWA Section 1447(b)(1)
• Gave EPA penalty authority against Federal
  facilities
• Maximum 25,000 per day per violation

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• SDWA Violations by the Forest Service

• AO to Forest Service Campground
• Bacteriological violations
• Failure to monitor
• MCL violation
• Failure to do repeat sampling
• Orders them to do monitoring

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EPA settles SDWA penalty case against a Federal
facility for 900,000

• Redstone Arsenal - Huntsville , Alabama
• PWS supplied water for about 22,000 people
• Violations
• Surface Water Treatment Rule
• Total Coliform Rule
• Public Notification Rule

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EPA settles SDWA penalty case against a Federal
facility for 900,000

• Redstone Arsenal - Huntsville , Alabama
• Cash penalty 80,000
• 807,000 to be spent on SEPs
• Chlorine monitoring system
• Treatment plant upgraded
• Computer software / water stagnation problems

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• Concessionaires

• The holder of a concession granted by a
  government agency

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• If your concessionaire is in violation

• Check contract
• Most require compliance with all Federal
  regulations
• Add if not included in their contract
• Many of these contracts are old
• You might have one of these on your facility
• Have the regulatory agency notify you if there is
  a problem
• Make the concessionaire fix the problem !!

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• Class Participation

You just received notification from the
laboratory that the latest BacT sample from your
PWS was TC and EC. You are the operator of
this PWS. What actions do you need to take?
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• What do I need to do if there is a violation at
  my PWS?

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• What do I need to do if there is a violation at
  my PWS?

• Notify State/EPA
• Do Public Notice
• Is additional sampling required?
• Fix the problem!
• Plan in place to deal with drinking water
  problems?

Is a boil order necessary?
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• You just received an Administrative Order from
  the State for violations by your PWS. What do
  you do?

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• You just received an Administrative Order from
  the State for violations by your PWS. What do
  you do?

• Evacuate the facility
• Throw the Order away - no one will ever find out!
• Jump from the fire tower (water tower?)
• Call the State/EPA person identified in the Order
  and give them a piece of your mind
• Immediately shut off all of the water supply
• Read the Order
• Address the violations
• Identify problems with your PWS

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• What do I do if I receive an enforcement action
  from the State or EPA?

• Read the Order carefully
• Don't panic - take this seriously!
• Make sure the information in the Order is
  accurate (Findings section)
• Do what the Order requires (Order section)
• Identify and correct chronic problems
• Contact person from the Agency that issued the
  Order if you have questions
• Do not ignore the Order!

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• 11 Ways to Avoid Enforcement Action

• 1) Keep up with your monitoring
• 2) Know the requirements for your PWS
• 3) Include your PWS ID on your BacT samples
• 4) Do BacT samples at the beginning of the
  compliance period
• 5) Do public notice for any violation(s)
• 6) Notify the State/EPA of any violations
• 7) Ask the State/EPA for technical assistance
• 8) Keep State/EPA phone numbers handy
• 9) Don't submit false data

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• 11 Ways to Avoid Enforcement Action

• 10) Disinfect your water system
• 11) Make someone responsible - encourage
  (require) this person to become a certified
  operator
• Remember YOU are responsible for compliance with
  the SDWA and the National Primary Drinking Water
  Regulations!!