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WARSAW — On Jan. 8 the town of Warsaw was issued two notices of violation and assessment of civil penalties totalling $19,712.02 in fines for infractions at the Warsaw Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
The first notice outlines a fine of $12,113.51 for 10 violations incurred from Aug. 17, 2024 through Aug. 31, 2024. During this period, the facility exceeded the weekly biochemical oxygen demand by 73% and the monthly average BOD by 13.8%. The WWTP recorded excessive levels of fecal coliform, exceeding three weekly thresholds by 505%, 505% and 441%, and the monthly geometric mean for fecal coliform by 620%. The notice also indicated violations of two weekly ammonia nitrogen standards by 42% and 198%, with the monthly average ammonia nitrogen exceeding limits by 205%. Furthermore, the facility exceeded the monthly flow limit by 3%.
The second notice details four violations incurred from Sept. 7, 2024 through Sept. 30, 2024, totalling $7,598.51. This document indicates that the facility exceeded the monthly average BOD by 5%, three weekly fecal coliform thresholds by 18%, 103%, and 505%, the monthly geometric mean for fecal coliform by 20%, and the monthly average ammonia nitrogen by 21%.
According to the National Library of Medicine, high levels of fecal coliform in wastewater effluents indicate the potential presence of disease-causing pathogens. Poor-quality effluents can expose downstream users to waterborne diseases, which may enter the body through the mouth, nose, ears, or cuts in the skin, increasing the risk of illnesses such as hepatitis, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever, dysentery, and ear infections.
The documents noted that while the extent of harm has not been quantified, the summer Instream Waste Concentration was estimated at 92.2%. This metric is used to assess the potential environmental impact of wastewater discharge—a higher IWC reflects a greater proportion of wastewater present in the receiving waters.
According to Town Manager Lea Turner, an industrial pretreatment program is in place to monitor and regulate compliance. She explained that the town is “working with local industries to ensure they are reporting and being held accountable for noncompliance.”
In an email to the Duplin Journal, Turner mentioned that the town has been upgrading the WWTP for a number of years and is currently exploring grant opportunities for additional funding.
“We have recently added clarifiers and filters to the system. We are currently looking into adding diffusers into the system to add air to the waste for better sludge management and treatment,” Turner explained.
Turner also announced that a request to change the terminology from “expansion” to “water and sewer improvements” in a $7.5 million grant received by the town was approved.
“The earmark was originally for sewer capacity expansion, but expansion requires extra permitting which takes longer than the time allotted to allocate funding. These funds will be used to repair/replace equipment and sewer lines to more efficiently handle the current flows and to decrease infiltration into the system,” said Turner. “Our engineers are working on plans to move forward with needed repairs/upgrades.”
Since December 2023, Warsaw has incurred fines totaling $65,590.02 from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.
