EPA OKs new discharge limits for Findlay industries

FINDLAY — Findlay is updating the rules that limit what local industries can send into the city's wastewater system after the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency approved new discharge limits. In a June 2 letter to council, Service-Safety Director Rob Martin said the EPA reviewed the city's industrial discharge limits and approved several changes. To stay in compliance, the city has to update its ordinance so the limits in local law match the limits the EPA signed off on. Local discharge limits change because the Ohio EPA requires cities to review them every five years to ensure they continue to protect the wastewater system and local waterways. That review looks at new sampling data from the treatment plant, which industries are sending into the system and whether any pollutants are showing up at higher or lower levels than before. If the data shows a pollutant is no longer a concern, the limit can be removed. If something new is showing up, or showing up in higher amounts, the EPA may require a new limit or a higher or lower number. The standards also change as science and water-quality rules evolve. The EPA updates how much of a pollutant can safely enter waterways, and cities must adjust their local limits so those pollutants don't pass through the treatment plant or interfere with how it operates. Industrial activity in a city also shifts over time, which means the mix of pollutants coming into the system changes too. An ordinance to make the mandate changes was introduced to council at its regular meeting on June 16. The ordinance contains emergency language, meaning that if approved, it will bypass the 30-day public review/referendum period and become effective immediately. The state approved the removal of four pollutants from Findlay's industrial discharge limits. The city deleted Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and eliminated total cyanide, replacing it with a new limit for free cyanide instead. The update also removed phenols and selenium from the ordinance. The only new pollutant added to Findlay's industrial discharge limits is free cyanide. The old limit for total cyanide was removed and replaced with a more targeted standard. Allowable concentrations for copper, nickel and zinc were increased. Allowable limits can increase when the EPA's five-year review shows a pollutant isn't causing problems in the wastewater system and can safely be handled at higher levels. Updated sampling data, changes in industrial activity and revised water-quality standards can all lead the EPA to conclude that a previous limit was more restrictive than necessary. Other limits, including cadmium, total chromium, hexavalent chromium, lead, silver and mercury, remain unchanged in the city's discharge limit. Martin said the pretreatment program review is required under the city's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit and must ensure that industrial discharges do not interfere with the city's wastewater treatment plant or cause pollutants to pass through the system in excess of water-quality standards.