nopropulsion

nopropulsion t1_jdjk8eq wrote

I can't respond to your other comment, but your response to my question asking where they should post was "social media. "

Okay, which social media platform? Does an Instagram story suffice? What if you miss the story?

Do you follow your local municipality on social media? What about your water company?

You need to realize the laws were written a while ago. Despite that, public notice in a newspaper is better than a random Facebook post, because you are just as unlikely to see that as something in the paper.

People in the know about these things (professionals, activists, journalists) know to check local publications for this information.

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nopropulsion t1_jdjigqq wrote

It is in the local public record. This is why it is good to have local strong media. If it someone is seriously polluting, it will get picked up. Just because you don't follow your local media, doesn't mean that others don't.

Where do you suggest they post it?

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nopropulsion t1_jdj9hwo wrote

As I mentioned above, my job is to design treatment systems to maintain compliance. So yes it does happen.

Something I didn't mention is that if you meet the requirements for significant noncompliance, the regulator/municipality is then required to provide public notice of the noncompliance. So they call out the company in the local newspaper.

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nopropulsion t1_jdihnff wrote

I think the state (or EPA if they oversee your programs) are supposed to do annual audits or review annual reports. I'm not personally familiar with how things work on the regulator's side of things, but I'm pretty sure people will be asking questions at that point if you've got serious noncompliance issues.

I will say that there are some times where fines are preferable for both parties. A parameter like BOD or TSS, which is not likely to harm a wastewater treatment plant, is where I see this. Typically that is built into the permit in which a municipality just straight up charges extra after a certain amount.

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nopropulsion t1_jdif2l8 wrote

There is a thing called "Significant Noncompliance" trust me that an industry does not want to fall into that status.

The regulatory agency at that point can levy steep fines for each day that they remain out of compliance. Regulators in that situation can levy penalties proportional to the cost benefit of not treating. So if the regulators figure that you are saving $100,000 a day by not treating, they may be able to fine that amount if you are significantly noncompliant.

I work in this industry, I'm a consultant that gets hired by businesses to design treatment systems to stay compliant.

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