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BURNT
IMPROVING THE ENVIRONMENT THROUGH
CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT WITH GOVERNMENT, BUSINESS, AND ACADEMIA 21 August 2007 The Honorable Phil Bredesen Governor The State of Tennessee via hand delivery and electronic mail
The Honorable Bill Purcell Mayor Nashville and Davidson County via hand delivery and electronic mail
RE: Request Metro Council to DEFER RS 2007-2144, Secret Department of Justice, USEPA Consent Decree Dear Governor Bredesen and Mayor Purcell: BURNT requests the State to hold a public hearing on this enforcement. BURNT requests that the Metropolitan Council DEFER Metro Council RS 2007-2144 because T.C.A. 8-44-101 governing Open Records Act has been violated by the Federal Justice Department and US EPA. The secrecy insisted on by Justice Department and the USEPA in the Consent Decree governing the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) enforcement of Nashville sewer overflows violates state law Metropolitan Sewer Overflows violate standing ORDERS of the State since 1990. The proposed Supplemental Environmental Projects violate federal guidelines. BURNT requests State and Metro government to hold a public hearing on enforcement of Metro Sewer Overflow, why failing septic tanks were tolerated for years, leakage of sewage into ground water, and the environmental injustice inherent in this pollution of the waters of the State. A. The Federal Department of Justice and USEPA Have Violated The Tennessee Open Records Act: T.C.A. 8-44-101 is very explicit that these matters may not be secret: .
"The general assembly hereby declares it to be the policy of this
T.C.A. 8-44-101state that the formation of public policy and decisions is public business and shall not be conducted in secret." We request the State to hold a public hearing on this. There should be no vote by the Metropolitan Council when the only available copy of the Consent Decree is at the Metropolitan Courthouse. B. The Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) Violates the Purpose Under Law The Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) are: “...projects or activities that go beyond what is required of a violator to return to compliance with environmental requirements and which the defendant/respondent is not otherwise legally required to perform....[to] encourage the regulated community to propose environmentally beneficial that would otherwise not be implemented due to the long term speculative nature of the returns.” [emphasis added] USEPA “New Guidance on Supplemental Environment Projects Issued by Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.”
Under the Consent Decree, Metro gains credit for a SEP spending $2.6 million in new sewers in Brandywine Subdivision, Old Hickory, and $200,000 on Sanitarium Drive [Northeast Davidson County] even though these projects are already in Capitol Budgets. Metro has caused untold pollution by tolerating septic tanks which leak human waste into Old Hickory Lake [BrandywineVillage], streams, and ground water. Metropolitan government should not be credited of a SEP when the project is an existing priority and the failure was caused by Metro. BURNT supports citizen evaluation and presentation of State enforcement of long running Metro sewer violations. Citizen groups, minority or women owned firms with histories of positive government change should educate water users and Metro decision makers. C. This Is Environmental Injustice. The Consent Decree does not appear to acknowledge the disproportionate impact of sewage overflow on poor, minority, and disenfranchised. Minority and poor are injured as consumers of fish and tap water. Treatment plants and the sewage outlet point are apparently located in largelyminorityareaswith severe degradation of air, quality of life, and home value. Government must protect the real estate interests of poor and minority even as sewer treatment plant operations improve. We do not know if enforcement of previous ORDERS was considered. BURNT advocates reduction of pollution businesses put into the sewer under their sewer permits. We believe more education of residential users to reduce use of kitchen disposals and disposal of fats and oils is needed. A Consent Decree for Sewer Overflow must address use of sewer sludge as soil amendment and to fertilize agriculture crops because we will eat, drink, or breathe the sewage that does not overflow. However, due to federally imposed secrecy we still do not know what was considered in this Consent Decree. BURNT is very concerned with secrecy imposed on State enforcement of Metro compliance with sewer overflows contaminating the waters of the state. Thank you, Bruce Wood cc: Metropolitan Council TDEC Commissioner Tennessee Convention of NAACP BURNT Board Metropolitan Government Departments |