DEQ Consent Order Program
In 2005 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advised the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) that it was EPA’s intention to place HRSD under a Federal Consent Decree to address Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO’s). The EPA further collaborated with the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to place thirteen Localities that discharge wastewater to HRSD under a State Consent Order to address SSO’s in the Localities’ systems. JCSA was one of the thirteen Localities included along with Williamsburg, York County, Gloucester, Newport News, Poquoson, Hampton, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Smithfield, and Isle of Wight County. After two years of coordination between HRSD, the Localities, and the DEQ, the Consent Order language and technical standards were completed and the order became effective on September 26, 2007. EPA’s Consent Decree with HRSD is expected to be effective November 2009.
JCSA completed flow monitoring at 74 of its 76 pump station service areas in order to establish dry and wet weather flow patterns. This information was used to determine which basins exceed inflow and infiltration threshold expectations and require further Sewer System Evaluation Surveys (SSES's). Forty-eight of JCSA's 76 sewer basins have been identified as requiring SSES inspection. Inflow and infiltration is extraneous flow that enters the wastewater collection system through defects in pipes and manholes or by illegal/deliberate connections with storm drains, roof leaders, basement sumps, etc. SSES activities include manhole inpsections, smoke and dye testing, night flow isolation, and closed circuit television inspection of mains. The flow data will also be used in the development of a Regional Hydraulic Model of HRSD's interceptor forcemain system that will enable the Region to better assess capacity issues and pressures in the system.
Following completion of the SSES’s, the Service Authority will prioritize system improvements and rehabilitation projects to be incorporated into the Capital Improvement Program (CIP). It is anticipated that CIP projects resulting from these studies will be scheduled and addressed over the next ten to twenty years.
Cost
Costs for initial flow monitoring, modeling, and SSES’s are estimated at $200,000 - $500,000. Costs for future rehabilitation work will be dependent on the quantity and types of defects discovered in the wastewater collection system and are anticipated to be in the millions of dollars.
Project Schedule
- Flow Monitoring – September 2008
- SSES Plan – December 2008
- Completion of SSES field activities – September 2011
- Condition Assessment and Rehabilitation Plan Reports - November 2011
- Rehabilitation Projects 2012-2022
Project Team
- JCSA – Danny W. Poe, P.E. Project Manager (757) 253-6810
- Contractor – URS Consulting Engineers – Assistance with program management