Answer: and how! Suggest you start packing your bags folks. When the proverbial shit hits the fan, you're not getting away unscathed. Financially speaking.
If max compliance is required, I calculate that every toilet flush might cost you ca. $1.25. A shower ca. $7.50. A bath - ugh! Washing machine? Dish washer? You'll have to dip into the 401k.
Some of you have options. You might consider digging a hole in the backyard instead of using a toilet. Maybe toss it in a compost for the garden. Recommend avoiding the backyard in July/August. And instead of showering, wash in a bucket. One foot at a time. Washing dishes, fagitit - lick em clean. Clothes washing? Go naked. Or half naked. That'll save a few bucks.
I hope CM O'Brien has the sense to hire outside lawyers to deal with the EPA. Not like the PILOT deals, that was done by the City's law dept. And what did we get outta it? The shaft. And lost public property.
And thank you Washington D.C. That's another fine mess you got us into. The WRRB report. Click here or on pic. Read on. Get smart.
WRRB EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Worcester faces a new stormwater discharge permit requirement from the EPA, one that is expected to impose stricter water quality standards on the city’s stormwater management operations. Compliance costs have been estimated at over a billion dollars, all of which must be borne by local ratepayers, as there is no other source of funds available to fund the cost of compliance. The EPA disputes this estimate, claiming that the permit’s cost will be below $20 million. But the EPA does maintain that stricter stormwater discharge standards will be necessary in order to fulfill the Federal Clean Water Act’s mandate.
The purpose of this report is to explain the stormwater regulations controversy in Worcester and to suggest policy improvements at the Federal, state and local level. Key findings include:
· City officials argue that the EPA should explicitly limit Worcester’s liability to reduce stormwater pollution to the “maximum extent practicable.” This phrase is included in the Clean Water Act as the statutory standard for pollution removal by municipal stormwater systems and was the governing standard of Worcester’s prior stormwater discharge permit. It is included in the draft permit
from the EPA, but city officials believe that its force is ambiguous.
· Worcester’s sewer bills have increased about 200% over the last decade. During the same time, property tax bills have increased 50%.
· The main cause of this increase in sewer fees is EPA regulations on local wastewater management operations. Stormwater and wastewater discharge permits are unfunded mandates, meaning there is no significant Federal or state source of funding for the cost of compliance. Hence local officials’ concern about the potential impact on ratepayers’ sewer fees of impending discharge permits.
· Much uncertainty clouds the future of stormwater regulation in Worcester. The costs of EPA stormwater regulations are disputed, the effectiveness of various techniques in measurably reducing stormwater pollution are unknown, and it is unclear if the community has the will and/or ability to pay for stricter Federal environmental mandates.
