Naples' wastewater treatment plant could discharge nearly twice its current permitted monthly average flow under a proposed state permit change that would also impose stricter ammonia and phosphorus limits.
The Department of Environmental Conservation is accepting written comments through Nov. 6 on its draft modification of the village's wastewater permit, with a final decision still subject to public input and other information.
The proposal concerns treated sanitary wastewater released to Grimes Creek Raceway, a tributary of Naples Creek. The plant is on Ontario Street off Route 21 in Ontario County.
Higher flow, lower pollutant concentrations
The proposed final monthly average discharge limit would increase from 0.05 million gallons per day to 0.097 million gallons per day — from 50,000 to 97,000 gallons daily.
At the same time, the final summer ammonia limit would fall from 1.2 to 0.54 milligrams per liter. The winter limit would decline from 1.8 to 1.1 milligrams per liter.
Total phosphorus would be limited to 0.5 milligrams per liter, down from 1.0. That requirement would apply year-round rather than seasonally.
The draft also adds a total mercury limit of 25 nanograms per liter. These are proposed permit requirements, not findings that the plant has violated its current limits.
DEC would update the receiving-water classification from C to C(TS), revise the permit's schematic and monitoring locations, and add dissolved oxygen monitoring. Existing limits would receive adjustments to the significant figures used for carbonaceous biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids loadings.
Compliance and annual reporting
A compliance schedule would address achieving the final limits. Interim requirements would cover dissolved oxygen, ammonia and phosphorus while that schedule is in effect.
The proposal also adds annual submissions addressing water-treatment chemicals, flow certification, emergency response planning and cybersecurity controls. A mercury minimization plan would be required, while a previous construction-completion notice item would be removed.
The Naples Village Board led the coordinated environmental review. The notice says the project is a Type I action with a negative declaration on file, meaning the review found no significant environmental effect requiring an environmental impact statement.
A cultural resources survey identified resources, but state historic preservation officials determined the proposed activity would not adversely affect registered or eligible archaeological sites or historic structures. DEC also says the project is outside a coastal management area and is not subject to its environmental justice permitting policy.
How to review and comment
The draft permit and fact sheet are available through DEC's draft-permit files under SPDES number NY0272060. The application number is 8-3238-00137/00002.
Application documents can be inspected during normal business hours through Sonia Phelan at DEC Region 8, 6274 East Avon-Lima Road, Avon, NY 14414. DEC recommends arranging an appointment; the telephone number is 585-226-2466.
Written comments and requests for a legislative public-statement hearing must reach the DEC contact by Nov. 6. A hearing request does not itself establish that a hearing will be held.
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