Record · Enforcement
consent decree
edoc-412983
Fields
agency
U.S. EPA / DOJ and Ohio EPA
instrument
consent decree
case_no
3:14-CV-02551-JZ
respondent
City of Lima
facility
City of Lima WWTP and combined/sanitary sewer collection system, Allen County, Ohio
permit_no
2PE00000*MD
issued_date
2015-01-13
effective_date
2015-01-13
supersedes
—
penalty_usd
49000
stipulated_penalties
Section X, tiered. NPDES permit noncompliance (para 49): $500/day daily concentration or mass limits; $750/day weekly average; $1,000/month monthly average; $500 per any other violation. SSO discharges (para 50): $1,000 per day, accruing only AFTER the Achievement of Full Operation date for that basin's Appendix A control measures, and only where precipitation was below the basin's design event - a 5-year/24-hour storm (3.11 in) for Lost Creek, Cole St., Findlay Road and Fifteenth St., a 25-year/6-hour storm (3.26 in) for Allentown, West St. and Koop, both taken from NOAA's Point Precipitation Frequency Estimates at the 90% confidence interval for the Lima area. SSOs from any other location (para 51): $500-$2,000 per SSO, tiered on whether Lima is in compliance with its CMOM Program schedule. Dry Weather Overflows (para 52): per-day schedule rising with the period of noncompliance. Failure to complete the SEP: $150,000 lump sum. Penalties are split 50/50 between the United States and the State of Ohio where both elect to seek them.
status
active
summary
The federal Clean Water Act consent decree governing the City of Lima's WWTP and combined/sanitary sewer system, lodged 2014-11-19 and entered 2015-01-13 by the United States and the State of Ohio in N.D. Ohio (Case No. 3:14 CV 2551). It assesses a $49,000 civil penalty split evenly between the two plaintiffs, requires a $218,400 Ottawa River bank revitalization SEP, and binds Lima to the Appendix A "Table A.1" integrated control schedule - WWTP headworks and nitrification-tower upgrades to 70 mgd by 2018, the 13.0 MG Simmons Field CSO storage tank and full CSO control by 2024-08-30, then seven SSO basins in sequence from 2029 through 2038, closing with a final post-construction compliance monitoring report due 2043-12-31. The decree protects Lima's basins at two different levels: Allentown, West Street and Koop are engineered to a 25-year, 6-hour storm, while Lost Creek, Cole St., Findlay Road and Fifteenth St. are engineered only to a 5-year storm and are scheduled last.
note
Court and docket detail moved out of the identifier fields: N.D. Ohio, Western Division, Judge Jack Zouhary; entered as Doc #5, filed 01/13/15; DOJ case no. 90-5-1-1-08433. The permit is 2PE00000*MD, issued to the City of Lima by Ohio EPA effective 2013-01-01, and the decree binds "all revisions, modifications, and successors" to it (Definitions, para aa, p11) — which is why later documents on *ND / *OD / *PD are still under it. The Cole St. basin row matters to this project beyond its place in the schedule. The Bosc campus address is 4110 N Cole St, and Table A.1 schedules the Cole St. basin's pump-station and relief-sewer upgrades to bid 2034-09-20 and achieve full operation 2036-04-01, sized to a 5-year storm - the lower of the decree's two protection tiers, and tenth of its twelve control measures by completion date (Findlay Road 2037-03-31 and Fifteenth St. 2038-04-01 are later). Under para 50 the $1,000/day stipulated penalty for an SSO in that basin does not begin to accrue until that 2036 date. THIS IS NOT YET A FINDING ABOUT THE CAMPUS: a sewer basin named for a street is not evidence that a parcel on that street drains to it. The decree gives the testable handle - the Cole St. basin's control measures address SSO 49 and SSO 10 - and the campus/basin relationship must be established from the sewershed geometry and those two SSO locations, never from the street name. See lead H1 and issue #1760.
obligations
- requirement Pay civil penalty of $24,500 to the United States, plus 28 U.S.C. 1961 Treasury interest from the Effective Date (para 44, p29)
- deadline 2015-02-12
- requirement Pay civil penalty of $24,500 to the State of Ohio, by certified check to "Treasurer, State of Ohio" (para 45, p30 - image-only page)
- deadline 2015-02-12
- requirement Submit Revised CSO Operational Plan to U.S. EPA; comply with it immediately upon submission
- deadline 90 days after Effective Date
- requirement Submit written CMOM Program Plan to U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA for approval (para 18, Appendix E)
- deadline 6 months after Effective Date
- requirement Implement the CMOM Program within 30 days of Plan approval
- deadline 30 days after CMOM Program Plan approval
- requirement Submit semi-annual Progress Reports to U.S. EPA and Ohio EPA on January 31 and July 31 of each year until termination of the Decree (para 33)
- deadline recurring: 01-31 and 07-31 annually until termination
- requirement Notify Plaintiffs in writing within 10 working days of becoming aware of any Decree or NPDES Permit violation
- deadline 10 working days from awareness
- requirement Retain all data, documents, plans, records, studies and reports
- deadline 5 years after termination of the Decree
- requirement No Dry Weather Overflows at any time
- deadline ongoing
- requirement Implement the Supplemental Environmental Project - Ottawa River bank revitalization, removal of dead/damaged trees and planting, Lima good-faith cost estimate $218,400.00 (para 27a, p23; scope Appendix F pp. 93-99)
- deadline per Appendix F schedule
- requirement Submit SEP Completion Report
- deadline 30 days after the Appendix F SEP completion date
- requirement Sample and operate the WWTP Nitrification Towers per Appendix C approval and implementation procedures (pp. 80-83)
- deadline ongoing
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Baxter Street Interceptor Rehabilitation: line 3,700 ft of sewer with cure-in-place; convey 35 mgd. Achieve Full Operation.
- deadline 2014-07-01
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Upstream Regulator Improvements: full or partial sewer separation at 10 CSOs AND dry-weather-overflow modifications at 2 CSOs — twelve in all, and the row's own "CSOs/SSOs Controlled" column lists exactly twelve: 09, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 33, 34, 35A, 35B, 35C, 36 (see Figure A-4). The 10 and the 2 are the two treatments, not a subset of the list; 35A/35B/35C count as three. Performance: reduce overflow events to 0 in a typical year. Bid 2015-06-30.
- deadline 2017-06-30
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Headworks improvements: expand preliminary screening, replace grit system, replace dry weather primaries. Preliminary treatment ~70 mgd; new dry weather primaries ~40 mgd. Bid 2016-01-31.
- deadline 2018-07-01
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Lima WWTP Upgrade: piping and pumping so the existing nitrification towers take peak wet weather flow, plus expanded disinfection. Treat 40-70 mgd; Lima "must at all times provide the most effective treatment for flows up to 70 mgd"; single-sample max TSS 65 mg/l, BOD 65 mg/l, pH 6-9; flows under 40 mgd receive better than secondary. Bid 2016-01-31.
- deadline 2018-07-01
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Simmons Field CSO Storage Tank (13.0 MG) + dewatering pump station + Real Time Control optimization, capturing CSOs 002-006. Performance: reduce overflow events to 5 or fewer in a Typical Year. Bid 2019-05-31.
- deadline 2024-08-30
- requirement Para 15 - by the Achievement of Full Operation date for all CSO Control Measures: no unlisted CSO Outfalls (eliminated or permitted as CSO Discharge points in the NPDES Permit); remaining CSO Outfalls in compliance with the NPDES Permit; all WWTP Bypasses eliminated or brought into compliance (p16)
- deadline 2024-08-30
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Allentown SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction, SSOs 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 50, 51, 61, 62, 63. Sized to convey 25-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2027-12-31.
- deadline 2029-12-31
- requirement TABLE A.1 - West Street SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction, SSOs 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 56, 60. Sized to convey 25-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2029-12-31.
- deadline 2031-12-31
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Koop SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction, SSOs 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 28 - printed in that order, with 28 LAST and out of sequence; kept as-printed, do not sort. Sized to convey 25-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2031-12-31.
- deadline 2032-12-31
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Lost Creek SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction, SSO 47. Sized to convey 5-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2033-09-30.
- deadline 2035-04-03
- requirement TABLE A.1 - COLE ST. BASIN improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction, SSOs 49 and 10. Sized to convey 5-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Performance: control SSOs in this basin up to 5-Year, 6-hour design event flow rates. Bid 2034-09-20.
- deadline 2036-04-01
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Findlay Road SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction. Sized to convey 5-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2035-09-28.
- deadline 2037-03-31
- requirement TABLE A.1 - Fifteenth St. SSO basin improvements: pump station upgrades + relief sewer construction. Sized to convey 5-yr, 6-hour design storm flows. Bid 2036-09-30.
- deadline 2038-04-01
- requirement Implement the Post Construction Monitoring Program (Appendix B) after completing the CSO and SSO Control Measures; WWTP Control Measures monitored over a two-year period
- deadline per Appendix B schedule
- requirement Submit the FINAL Post Construction Compliance Monitoring Report (Appendix B section 1.10, p78)
- deadline 2043-12-31
- requirement If the Post Construction Monitoring Program does not demonstrate compliance, submit a Supplemental Compliance Plan
- deadline 60 days after the Final Post Construction Monitoring Report
⚠ Gaps in the record
- ⚠️ case_no AND permit_no WERE PROSE, AND THAT BROKE EVERY JOIN TO THIS DECREE. They read '3:14 CV 2551 (N.D. Ohio, Western Div., Judge Jack Zouhary; Doc #5, filed 01/13/15; DOJ case no. 90-5-1-1-08433)' and '2PE00000*MD (issued to the City of Lima ... para aa, p11)'. Nine paragraph-33 progress reports and two City letters were normalized to the canonical '3:14-CV-02551-JZ' across #2076-#2079 — every one of them pointing at an instrument whose own key was a sentence. The detail was worth keeping and belonged in `note`, never in a join key. Found by a TREE-WIDE re-audit rather than a per-PR one; a subset audit would have kept missing it, because this artifact was merged three PRs earlier.
- penalty_usd is the TOTAL assessed, $49,000, and the decree splits it in two equal halves that sit on facing pages: para 44 assesses $24,500 to the United States (p29, text layer) and para 45 assesses $24,500 to the State of Ohio (p30, IMAGE-ONLY, recovered by OCR). A text-layer-only read of this decree sees half the penalty and reports $24,500 with no indication anything is missing.
- INTERNAL INCONSISTENCY, recorded not resolved. Table A.1 sizes the Lost Creek / Cole St. / Findlay Road / Fifteenth St. control measures to a "5-yr, 6-hour design storm", but para 50 excuses an SSO from those same four basins when precipitation is below a "5-year recurrence interval, 24-hour duration" storm (3.11 in). Those are different storms. The 25-year tier is self-consistent (6-hour in both places, 3.26 in). Whether the 6/24-hour split is deliberate or a drafting error is an open question - do not silently harmonise them.
- The PDF contains Appendix B twice (pp. 73-79 and pp. 84-90, both stamped Doc #: 4-3, PageID #192-198) and Table A.1 twice (pp. 70-72 and pp. 100-102, the second copy a poorer scan). Transcription is from the cleaner first copy. This is duplication in the as-served document, not in the corpus - do not "fix" it.
- Appendix E (CMOM, p92) is reproduced as a table of contents only in this filing; Appendix D (p91) is "Supplemental Information". Neither carries an obligation schedule here. Appendix F (pp. 93-99) carries the SEP scope and a planting estimate but its milestone schedule was not legible enough to transcribe dates from - the SEP obligations below cite it without deadlines.
- Read as of 2026-08-22, this instrument's own compliance status is NOT established by this document. The latest para 33 progress report held in the corpus is 2021-07-23 (edoc-1611092) and the 2026-08-22 portal sweep of permit 2PE00000 - complete, untruncated, 261 of 261 - carries no later filing under doc type "Judicial Order". `status: active` records the instrument's own terms (para 88 termination conditions are unmet on this record), NOT a verified present-day docket status.
Where it connects
oepa/lima/edoc-412983.order.yaml · p.1 · oepa