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Lake Norman CoveKEEPERSThis site is dedicated to the protection of
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The Charlotte Observer Judge: Revoke erroneous permit Lake Norman is not able to handle treated waste, court determines BRUCE HENDERSON Staff Writer
The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued permits in 1996 and 2000 allowing the plant to drain up to 300,000 gallons of treated waste a day into the lake south of the plant's location, near the N.C. 150 bridge just west of Mooresville. Eleven Lake Norman residents, joined by Catawba Riverkeeper Donna Lisenby, challenged the permits issued to Mid-South Water Systems. Mid-South sold the plant last year to Hydraulics Ltd. Judge James Conner's Nov. 21 recommendation siding with the residents goes before a committee of the state Environmental Management Commission early next year. It would be the first time in recent memory a permit has been revoked for a sewage treatment plant serving homes, said Susan Massengale, spokesman for the N.C. Division of Water Quality. Unlike businesses, which could shut down if the plant is closed, homes would have no ready alternative -- something the committee would have to include in its consideration of the judge's recommendation. State environmental officials
had not seen the decision Tuesday and had no comment. Lakes aren't ideal places for sewage discharges because slow-moving water can't disperse pollutants as easily as flowing streams can. South Carolina does not allow new discharges into lakes. "We are hopeful this draws a line against allowing other waste treatment plants on Catawba River reservoirs, and on other N.C. reservoirs," Lisenby said. Several other sewage treatment plants also operate on Norman. State officials overlooked environmentally benign alternatives such as septic tanks, the judge wrote. He also noted procedural problems such as an incorrect address listed on the 1996 permit. The state also ignored Mid-South's "notorious" record of violations, Conner said. Before Mid-South sold most of its waste treatment plants in late 1999, records show, the company was assessed more than $74,000 in fines for plants in Iredell, Catawba and Mecklenburg counties. "There is no point in having laws to protect citizens and the environment from scoff-law companies if the agency is simply going to ignore those laws," Conner wrote. Bruce Henderson: |