The City of Moscow, ID agrees to pay $134,000 EPA Settlement to Resolve Federal Clean Water Act violations

The City of Moscow, Idaho, has reached a $134,000 settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for alleged Clean Water Act violations related to the City’s discharge of wastewater.


The City owns and operates a wastewater treatment facility that discharges treated wastewater into Paradise Creek. The wastewater treatment plant is part of a sanitary sewer system that receives domestic wastewater from residential and commercial sources. The facility serves a population of approximately 22,000.

The discharge from the City’s facility exceeded the fecal coliform bacteria, copper, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), total suspended solids (TSS), pH and total residual chlorine effluent limits on numerous occasions. The effluent limits are set fourth in the City’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. Between March 2002 and June 2006, the facility had 871 effluent limit violations.

According to James Werntz, Idaho Operations Office Director for EPA, cities like Moscow need to make sure that they are following the requirements set fourth by their NPDES discharge permit.

“EPA will continue to ensure that the water quality in Idaho is protected,” said Werntz. “We are encouraged by the commitment by the City of Moscow to upgrade their facility and prevent future discharge violations.”

The NPDES permit program, a key part of the federal Clean Water Act, controls water pollution by regulating sources that discharge pollutants to waters in the United States.