Committee backs updated local wastewater discharge limits tied to EPA permits

The Cheyenne Public Service Committee voted to forward to council proposed revisions to local discharge limits in the city wastewater code, part of the permit update process for the Dry Creek and Crow Creek water reclamation facilities.

Matt Buer, Water Reclamation Division Manager for the Board of Public Utilities, said municipalities must set local limits during EPA discharge-permit updates so treatment facilities accept allowable pollutant loads while protecting downstream users. "Every time that we get a discharge permit update at both of our facilities ... we are required through the EPA to do what they call a local limits study," Buer said.

Buer explained that the local limits reflect facility influent and treatment capacity and therefore differ from other cities. He told the committee the recent departure or change of a major industrial discharger (referenced in the study) altered some allocations, which raised allowable levels for some parameters while lowering others. During questioning Dr. Aldridge cited a table in the staff packet and asked whether the daily maximum for arsenic would increase from the previous listed value; Buer said the packet contains older local limits and that the updated study reflects the revised allocations tied to changes in industrial discharges.

Council members asked staff to clarify units and to provide clear cross-references in the packet (for example, which page contains the replacement table) and to confirm that the city will submit the limits to EPA for approval and a subsequent public-comment period via the newspaper. Buer confirmed the city sets the limits and forwards them to EPA for review as part of the WPDES/MPDES process.

The committee voted to recommend the ordinance to council (voice vote). Staff said that once the council acts, the EPA will provide an additional public-comment opportunity as part of permit processing.

The committee requested follow-up materials clarifying the final numeric limits, units (milligrams per liter), and the packet pages that replace old tables before the council hearing.