Veolia reports April permit exceedances; commission warns of I&I compliance work ahead

Ross, the Veolia project leader assigned to the Town of Charlton plant, briefed the commission on the April monthly operating report. He said two safety inspections were completed, the DMR (discharge monitoring report) was submitted April 15, and the plant experienced exceedances in biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, E. coli and phosphorus on April 8. Ross said his team reduced solids inventory, adjusted pH control and reconfigured caustic dosing to stabilize operations, and removed 23 loads of sludge in April to relieve a high solids backlog.

Ross told commissioners he had proposed a return-to-compliance form and that additional maintenance and equipment checks are planned for the coming month. Commissioners and staff offered to assist with in-house sampling and testing so the plant can monitor the changes more closely.

Separately, the commission addressed infiltration and inflow (I&I). Vincent Masterson (the commissions water and sewer consultant) and Veolia staff said a 2023 flow-monitoring project produced little usable data because of equipment-communication problems and battery failures. The annual INI/I&I report due March 31 was not submitted; Chris McClure said the state likely will issue a notice of noncompliance if the report is not filed. McClure and Masterson described approved but incomplete camera/jetting work that would count toward compliance, and they said they would prepare a plan and follow up on outstanding tasks to reduce inflow and infiltration before the next reporting cycle.

Vincent was credited by the commission for submitting an operations and maintenance manual earlier in the spring. Commissioners directed staff and consultants to outline the actions and timeline needed to satisfy DEP reporting requirements and to pursue corrective construction where monitoring identifies illegal inflow sources.