District agreed to pay $864,000 civil penalty, complete a $1.14 million supplemental environmental project, and implement approximately $50 million in infrastructure improvements, reducing annual suspended solids by 2,303 lbs and biochemical oxygen demand by 107,127 lbs.

Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District — CWA Violations (2021)

Outcome: District agreed to pay $864,000 civil penalty, fund a $1.14 million supplemental environmental project, and implement approximately $50 million in sewer infrastructure improvements, resolving effluent limit exceedances, sanitary sewer overflows, and failure to develop a required MS4 stormwater management program.

Berkeley County, West Virginia, located in the Eastern Panhandle near Martinsburg, experienced rapid residential and commercial growth in the 2000s and 2010s as a Washington, D.C. exurb. The Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District struggled to keep wastewater infrastructure pace with this growth, resulting in documented Clean Water Act violations including effluent limit exceedances at treatment facilities and sanitary sewer overflows discharging untreated sewage into local waterways. The district also failed to develop and implement a Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) program as required by its NPDES stormwater permit.

The settlement, announced November 17, 2021, required a $864,000 civil penalty split equally between the United States and West Virginia, plus completion of a $1.14 million supplemental environmental project. The consent decree requires the district to assess 65% of its sewer collection system within five years and complete approximately $50 million in infrastructure improvements over 10 years. Expected annual pollutant reductions include 2,303 pounds of total suspended solids, 107,127 pounds of biochemical oxygen demand, 212 pounds of nitrogen, and 2,714 pounds of phosphorus — substantial loadings into the Potomac River watershed, which drains into the Chesapeake Bay.

The case is notable for combining two distinct violation categories: operational failures (SSOs and effluent exceedances) and programmatic failures (no MS4 program). Both types reflect organizational and institutional deficiencies rather than isolated operational accidents. The MS4 program requirement in particular demands sustained cross-departmental coordination that many small utilities lack the administrative infrastructure to maintain.

Primary Source: Berkeley County Public Service Sewer District, West Virginia Clean Water Settlement | US EPA