Local Watchdog Group Partners with Tribe to Sue State Over Wastewater Discharge Permit
The lawsuit claims wastewater will flow into groundwater faster than Montana Department of Environmental Quality officials estimated
By Zoë Buhrmaster
A local watchdog group and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) are suing the state for issuing a groundwater discharge permit to the Lakeside County Water and Sewer District (LCWSD).
The Montana Ground Water Pollution Control System permit in question allows the district to discharge treated wastewater into groundwater, green-lighting the first of a two-phase plan to upgrade the district’s facility and expand, incorporating a receiving facility for county septage. The plant is two miles north of Flathead Lake, and about a quarter mile from Wiley Slough, which connects to Lower Ashley Creek and flows into the lake.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) approved the permit in April after hearing a combination of criticism and support from community members during the permit’s public comment period.
About a month later Citizens for a Better Flathead (CBF), joined by CSKT, filed a lawsuit against DEQ, challenging the permit’s approval.
During the public comment period, CBF commissioned three studies to analyze the DEQ’s environmental assessment for the permit. The engineers, from HydroSolutions and Hauer Environmental LLC, stated that they found issues with the agency’s testing standards, warning that wastewater would seep into groundwater faster than DEQ officials estimated.
In a four-page letter sent to DEQ citing the CBF-commissioned studies, CSKT Tribal Council Chairman Michael Dolson expressed concern that the permit is an “attempt to circumvent the plain requirements of the federal Clean Water Act by treating a new, municipal scale wastewater discharge that is the functional equivalent of a point source discharge to Ashley Creek.” The DEQ and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are currently considering less stringent water protection standards for the creek.
Representatives from DEQ met with CSKT officials in March after the Tribal Council requested to be included in the decision-making process per state law that requires agencies to communicate early and regularly with Tribes on policies and rules that will have tribal impact.
“The Tribes use these waters to meet our subsistence, medicinal, spiritual, and other cultural needs,” Dolson stated. “We are very concerned about the findings in the expert reports.”
When the DEQ issued the wastewater discharge permit at the end of April, state officials said they reviewed and dismissed the studies, attesting that the permit met the Montana Water Quality Act and the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), and that the DEQ would ensure compliance and monitor discharge limits for nitrogen and phosphorus.
The lawsuit marks CBF’s fourth case addressing water quality concerns in the Flathead. The group also alleges that LCWSD did not follow public participation laws during decisions that affect ratepayers, including awarding a bid for phase one of the wastewater facility expansion. A show case hearing for the LCWSD case is set for June 11 in Flathead District Court.
“DEQ’s refusal to evaluate best available science demonstrating inappropriate levels of treatment and a terrible disposal location for massive volumes of new pollution near Flathead Lake is a disservice to citizens and taxpayers, and a real threat to the Flathead’s cherished water quality and its economy,” said Mayre Flowers, executive director for CBF.