Back in November, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published notice in the Federal Register of a draft consent agreement to resolve an enforcement action against Denali Water Solutions, LLC. Denali, a NEBRA member, is incorporated in Maryland and headquartered in Arkansas. In settling this action, EPA sought injunctive relief as well as civil penalties in the amount of $610,000. Although agreeing to a settlement, Denali has denied the violations in statements to the press. The Consent Agreement is now in effect.
EPA Region 7 filed this action in the District Court of Arizona alleging violations of the Clean Water Act section 309 (b) and (d) and the Part 503 Standards for the Use or Disposal of Sewage Sludge regulations. The two sections cited were:
503.14(d) — Bulk sewage sludge shall be applied to agricultural land, forest, a public contact site, or a reclamation site at a whole sludge application rate that is equal to or less than the agronomic rate for the bulk sewage sludge, unless, in the case of a reclamation site, otherwise specified by the permitting authority.
503.12(e)(1) — The person who applies sewage sludge to the land shall obtain information needed to comply with the requirements in this subpart.
According to EPA, these violations led to over application of nitrogen.
The case really started back in 2018 when Solid Solutions, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Denali’s was cited by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality – and again in 2019 – for violations of the state’s biosolids land application regulations. When EPA took over the enforcement action, they expanded it to other counties in Arizona and three counties in California and found violations back to 2016. The court documents indicate that Denali and its subsidiary land applied biosolids from about 22 water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) in California to hundreds of fields and farms in California and Arizona.
The focus of the allegations in United States v Denali Water Solutions LLC was on nitrogen pollution and the importance of understanding both the levels in the soils to be amended and the agronomic needs of the crops to be grown there. Unfortunately, there were numerous instances cited and EPA estimates 26,104 tons of biosolids were applied to fallow fields where there is no nitrogen required. The Consent Agreement mentions elevated nitrogen levels found in groundwater samples taken in 2019 at Desert Ridge Farm in Yuma County, Arizona.
In addition to applying to fallow fields at the Dessert Ridge Farm, Denali was cited for applying biosolids in amounts that exceeded the agronomic rates of nitrogen required for the crops. Finally, EPA claims Denali failed to obtain the information needed to determine the agronomic rates. The EPA says Denali or Solid Solutions used assumptions in calculating the amount of biosolids to be land applied. They say Denali did not obtain or use site-specific soil and crop nitrogen requirements, did no soil sampling before or after, and did not confirm the crops that were grown on the sites.
In addition to paying the penalty, Denali will be required to follow strict rules if land applying in Arizona or California in the next 5 years. In August 2024, Denali sold or transferred all its assets/contracts for work and no longer does land application work in Arizona or southern California.
While EPA could have also included the WRRFs where the biosolids came from in its enforcement action, it did not. But this demonstrates the need for WRRFs to be vigilant in managing contracts for biosolids management. Currently, the Clean Water Act allows for penalties up to $66,712 per day per violation.
NEBRA is hosting a Lunch & Learn on the topic of biosolids management contracts in February. If you missed it, you can find it on NEBRA’s YouTube station or email NEBRA (info@nebiosolids.org) for the link, slide deck and resources.