Combined sewer systems, often found in large urban areas, are designed to collect stormwater, domestic sewage, and industrial wastewater in one pipe and transport these materials to water pollution control plants for treatment prior to discharge into water bodies. During periods of heavy rainfall or snow melt, the volume of the combined flow can exceed the capacity of the water pollution control plants, and will enter the water bodies without treatment. Referred to as “Combined Sewer Overflows” (CSOs), these discharges of untreated domestic sewage, industrial wastewaters, and stormwater can contribute to violations of water quality standards and are “point sources” subject to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit requirements under the federal Clean Water Act.1
Nearly two decades ago, in 1992, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) entered into an administrative consent order relating to the problem of CSOs from the City of New York’s massive combined sewer system.2 The 1992 consent order was modified in 1996 and superseded in 2005; the 2005 consent order itself was modified in 2008 and 2009.3
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