Colorado Springs Agrees to Resolve Stormwater Management Violations in Settlement With U.S. DOJ

U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with the City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act with respect to the City’s storm sewer system.

The settlement also includes the State of Colorado as a co-plaintiff, and the Lower Arkansas Valley Water Conservancy District and the Board of County Commissioners of the County of Pueblo as plaintiff-intervenors. 

The EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, working in partnership, discovered violations through inspections and follow up investigations of a 2017 amended complaint of the City of Colorado Springs’ storm sewer program. 

The City’s improvements under this settlement will result in reductions in the discharge of pollutants, such as sediment, oil and grease, heavy metals, pesticides, fertilizers, and bacteria, into Fountain Creek and its tributaries in Colorado Springs. Communities downstream of Colorado Springs will also see significant water quality improvements from the settlement.

“The EPA appreciates the hard work and cooperation from all the parties, including the City of Colorado Springs, to reach this comprehensive agreement that will avoid further litigation and hasten the actions needed to improve water quality in Fountain Creek and its tributaries,” said EPA Assistant Administrator Susan Bodine for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This innovative settlement, developed through creative problem solving by engineers and scientists with the EPA, the state and the city, will provide the city with the flexibility it needs to attack the problems that have plagued its storm sewer system for two decades in a way that minimizes the burden on its rate payers.”

For more information on the settlement, visit the EPA Settlement Information Sheet.

Related News

From Archive

• Most Read
• Most Commented