FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 8, 1998 DOJ (202) 616-2765

U.S. ATTORNEY (504) 680-3000

EPA HEADQUARTERS (202) 564-2611

EPA REGION 6 (214) 665-2200

TDD (202) 514-1888

NEW ORLEANS AGREES TO MORE THAN $200 MILLION SETTLEMENT

TO PREVENT SEWAGE FROM FLOWING INTO NEARBY WATERS

Sewerage and Water Board Will Restore Water Quality Near

Abandoned Once-Segregated Lincoln Beach

Washington, D.C. -- The Justice Department and the

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that New
Orleans has agreed to a settlement worth more than $200 million
to address allegations that for several years its sewage system
spilled raw sewage into nearby waters. The Justice Department
and EPA also announced that the City will restore water quality
in an area known as Lincoln Beach, a once-segregated beach that
has been abandoned since the 1960s.

"This agreement is good for the people of New Orleans and

good for the environment," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney
General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division. "It
will help ensure that residents have an effective sewage
collection system and safe, healthy water to swim and fish in.
They deserve nothing less."

Under the settlement, filed today in U.S. District Court in

New Orleans, the Sewerage and Water Board will renovate its
antiquated sewage collection system to prevent future sewage
discharges into the Mississippi River and other nearby waters. It
also will pay $1.5 million in civil penalties and spend $2
million improving water quality along Lincoln Beach, a park which
was created for the purpose of serving African-Americans who were
barred by law from admission to the then white-only Pontchartrain
Beach amusement park.

Today's settlement resolves a suit filed by the Justice

Department on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
in 1993. It alleged that the Board's failure to properly operate
and maintain its treatment and collection system violated the
federal Clean Water Act. The suit also alleged violations of the
Clean Air Act.

In 1997, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Orleans

Audobon Society, League of Women Voters of New Orleans and
Louisiana Environmental Action Network intervened in this lawsuit
asserting Clean Water Act violations.

"This settlement shows how the federal and local

government can work together to benefit the environment and
protect human health. The renovation and cleanup projects that
the city will conduct are good news for the citizens of New
Orleans, who will be able to rely on Lincoln Beach, Lake
Pontchartrain and its adjacent lands for boating and other forms
of recreation," said Steve Herman, EPA's Assistant Administrator
for Enforcement and Compliance.

New Orleans is located six feet below sea level and

often receives a very large volume of rainfall in a short time
period. As a result, the capacity of the sewage collection
system, which is deteriorating due to more than 50 years of
disrepair, is often exceeded. The overflow of sewage spills into
city streets and into canals that drain into Lake Pontchartrain
and the Mississippi River. Sewage overflows are also common when
the collection pipes carrying sewage are blocked, when the pipes
break, and when equipment designed to pump the sewage to the
treatment plant fails.

"This agreement will offer greater protection to the health

and well being of New Orleans residents. Bringing the city's
sewage collection system into compliance with the Clean Water Act
regulations will prevent the release of untreated sewage into
streets, canals, rivers and lakes," said Acting Region 6
Administrator Jerry Clifford.

Under the agreement, the Board, with approval from the

City of New Orleans, which is also settling this lawsuit, will:

study the East Bank Treatment Plant and Sewage Collection

System to identify the causes of overflow and completely
renovate its collection system to alleviate future
overflows;

implement a comprehensive preventive maintenance program

that requires the Board to inspect and clean its sewer pipes
and pumping equipment on a regular basis;

utilize a storm sewer monitoring program to assist EPA in

determining whether the steps undertaken by the City under
the agreement are successful;

work with environmental specialists to restore, enhance

and create wetlands, including the planting of aquatic
vegetation, to help filter and neutralize sewage pollutants
in part of Lake Pontchartrain in the area of Lincoln Beach;
and,

enter into agreements with the Orleans Levee Board, which

governs Lincoln Beach, as well as the State of Louisiana and
other necessary parties, to help ensure that no action is
taken to disrupt the Board's efforts to undertake these
water quality improvements.
 United States Attorney Eddie Jordan said, "Lake
Pontchartrain is a vital part of our lives in Southeastern
Louisiana. Sadly, we can no longer swim in this wonderful lake
because of the health hazards caused by raw sewage, among other
things. As we rapidly approach the day when we can once again
take full advantage of the lake, it helps to know that today's
settlement will bolster our efforts to keep our lake clean."

Added Jordan, "What's more, this agreement will enable our

community to reclaim Lincoln Beach and transform a section of our
lake, which once carried the stigma of racial discrimination, as
well as substantial health risks, into a cleaner and safer
natural resource which all members of our community can enjoy."

The proposed settlement will be published in the

Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period and is
subject to court approval.

###

98-168