An organization called Save our Manchac asks if you have you ever been driving along I-55 south of Ponchatoula and smelled sewage?
They say the City of Hammond releases up to 8 million gallons of partially treated effluent into the Joyce Wildlife Management area per day.
The City of Hammond’s WWA permit was issued on August 1, 2010 and has been administratively continued since expiring on August of 2015. Save our Manchac says this project has historically performed poorly. It has been out of compliance 65% of a 2-year term, failing BOD limits 25 reported times, and 6 times failing Whole Effluent Toxicity limits. US EPA ECHO5 indicates the facility has had 5 quarters of non-compliance of the last 12, including 2 quarters of significant violation, 3 formal enforcement actions in the last 5 years. The facility’s LDEQ permit exceeded limits 74 times for Copper, 88 for Mercury, 86 for Zinc, 76 for total residual chlorine.
Save our Manchac says a facility with such significant historical record of non-compliance should not be allowed continued discharge without provisions of mitigation.
There is a public hearing is Thursday evening on the Hammond City Wetland Assimilation wastewater treatment permit. Comments can be made at the hearing or submitted by the comment deadline which is Tuesday, July 5, 2022. The event is Thursday, June 30, 2022 6:00 p.m. at the City of Hammond Council Chambers
During the hearing, all interested persons will have an opportunity to present oral statements, views, recommendations, opinions and information on the proposed permit.
The notice is also posted on the LDEQ Website, found at www.deq.louisiana.gov.
