The Centennial Water and Sanitation District is being cited by the state for repeated violations, including spills that sent thousands of gallons of sewage into local creeks.
The state action comes after a year-long investigation of the Centennial District, which serves about 87,000 Highlands Ranch residents.
The review looked at 14 incidents – some with multiple sewage spills from 2000 and 2005.
The district has until July 25 to issue a response.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will then decide whether to take additional actions, including fines or other penalties.
District officials said they notified state health officials each time a spill occurred, and that none of the incidents resulted in a risk to human health or the environment.
“We have taken the appropriate steps to repair facilities and improve procedures,” said Sherry Eppers, a spokeswoman for the district. “Everything has been corrected.”
The district was the focus of a federal criminal investigation prompted by employee allegations that managers dismissed their complaints about spills and retaliated against them.
One target of the complaints was Paul Grundemann, one of the district’s managers and also a member of the state water-quality control commission – Colorado’s water policymaking body. He has denied the accusations.
In October 2001, a Dumpster designed to capture dewatered waste had filled with black liquid and leaked down the side of the street and into storm drains leading to a creek.
When the district reported the spill to the state, plant managers estimated about 20 gallons of waste had flowed into the creek.
A worker, however, told plant operators the amount spilled was 6,000 gallons to 10,000 gallons.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency began a three-year investigation of the plant in 2001.
The U.S. attorney’s office decided the case would have trouble going forward because no one saw the waste hit the water.
When the federal investigation ended, the state launched its own probe, asking for thousands of district records.
“This is the culmination of that investigation,” said Dave Akers, a state water-quality control division supervisor.
Many of the violations contained in the recently issued state order are the same noted in the earlier EPA investigation.
The state investigation found that in some cases the amount of sewage spilled into the creeks was closer to plant operators’ estimates than workers’.
The state’s investigation also noted four spills that occurred last year, including one that sent about 25,000 gallons of treated effluent into Marcy Gulch.
In October 2005, another piece of equipment failed, according to state environmental regulators, and led to 250 gallons to 300 gallons of sludge being dumped on the ground.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or kmcguire@denverpost.com.
