Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. letter to Bud Shuster, May 15, 1995

Congress of tfje Uniteb States Jfjousc of SepreOrntatibES ШаафтДОоп, 2ЭС 20515-2002 May 15, 1995 The Honorable Bud Shuster Chairman, House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 2165 Rayburn HOB Washington n C. 20515 As a follow-up to staff discussions concerning a colloquy (which is no longer under consideration) on the applicability of intake credits, I wish to convey to you the following concern which impacts my largest constituent. Since 1 942 the Sparrows Point Division of Bethlehem Steel has used treated sewage effluent from the Back River Sewage Treatment Plant (a publicly-owned treatment works, or POTW) for the majority of its process water needs. This long-standing practice has worked to the mutual benefit of both parties and the environment for over 50 years. It has given the steel plant a reliable source of fresh (rather than brackish) water; diverted water which would otherwise be discharged to the Back River to other bodies of water with larger assimilative capacities; and caused less pollutants to be discharged to the Chesapeake Bay because additional wastewater treatment is provided by the steel plant for certain parameters. As effluent limitations have gotten progressively more stringent, the portion of pollutants in the incoming treated sewage effluent have become of greater significance to the demonstration of compliance at the steel plant’s outfalls. According to a strict interpretation of existing Clean Water Act regulations, intake must be from the same body of water as the discharge before an industrial user of a municipal water supply may qualify for intake credits. Though the intake is treated freshwater POTW effluent, the discharge is to the brackish Bear Creek and Patapsco River. This regulatory obstacle is hampering the ability of my constituent to obtain intake credits. Lack of intake credits would challenge the steel plant’s ability to continue to utilize this source of water and still comply with the predicted limits of the renewal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Allowing intake credits in this situation would: (1) give stature to the goal of beneficial reuse; (2) encourage other industries/municipalities to enter into similar arrangements; and (3) be equitable. If the steel plant did not accept the treated effluent, it would still be discharged by the POTW.