Tyrone turns up on a report released by the Cheasapeake Bay Foundation as having unacceptable nitrogen levels in its wastewater.
The study shows nitrogen levels in milligrams per liter. The Tyrone Borough Sewer Authority showed levels measured at 11.3 milligrams per liter in samples taken last year. The plant’s flow was listed at 3.6 million gallons per day.
“The flow in 2002 was low because of extremely dry weather” said Tim Nulton, the Sewer Authority superintendent.
He told The Daily Herald that the type of nitrogen measured has no limit in the wastewater treatment plant’s permit.
“The plant does well regarding its level of ammonia nitrogen,” he said.
The Authority’s permit does not require it to remove what is known as total nitrogen. The type that the Cheasapeake Bay Foundation claims is damaging wildlife downstream.
Despite the report, Nulton wanted the public to know that he considers the effluent or discharge into the stream to be of good quality. To his knowledge, the study is based on only one year of samples.
“It amounts to only four samples, some were high, some were low,” Nulton said.
He explained that the current discharge for total nitrogen is around ten, which is lower than the amount listed during the sampling period from 2002. Nulton plans on discussing the results of the study with his engineer before deciding on any course of action in regard to the problem. He also said the plant’s permit is coming up for renewal, but did not know if it would contain limits for total nitrogen.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation just released the first-ever comprehensive analysis of sewage treatment plants in the Bay watershed. According to the Foundation’s website, www.cbf.org, its analysis rates nitrogen pollution discharge from 265 major sewage treatment plants in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Washington, D.C. area.
The website claims that every day, nitrogen pollution pours into the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers and streams. The Foundation says the excess nitrogen degrades water quality and hurts crabs, fish and other aquatic life.
The Foundation rated sewage treatment plants as either excellent, good, needs improvement and unacceptable. More than 98 percent of the nitrogen pollution entering the Bay from sewage treatment plants came from plants that are either in the “needs” or the “unacceptable” category where the Tyrone treatment plant was listed.
According to the Foundation website, scientists determined that in order to improve water quality to levels healthy for living resources in the Bay, nitrogen pollution must be reduced by 110 million pounds per year by 2010. Sewage treatment plants can reduce nitrogen loads significantly by using currently available technology. But, the rate is not at a level to meet goals of a multi-state agreement called Chesapeake 2000.
As is the case with the Tyrone treatment plant, many plants in the report aren’t required by their permit to reduce this type of nitrogen in their wastewater output. The Chesapeake Bay Program Executive Council is due to meet in December for the first time since a nitrogen reduction goal was set. The council consists of Governor Ed Rendell along with the governors of Maryland, Virginia and the mayor of the District of Columbia. The administrator of the EPA and the chairman of the Chesapeake Bay commission are also part of the Executive Council.
The Cheasapeake Bay Foundation is urging the council to show leadership by taking what it describes as bold action in setting enforceable nitrogen pollution limits and timetables
