News Briefs: King County Faces $118,000 in Fines for Illicit Discharges

The state of Washington levied $118,500 in fines on King County for 27 instances of wastewater discharge exceedances, five instances of overflow violations and other permit-related issues in 2016-2017. The county is working on upgrading its wastewater system. Most of the discharge violations were due to effluent containing too much chlorine, a problem caused by four treatment plants that are connected to old infrastructure in the city.A computer programming error at the Warren (Michigan) Wastewater Treatment Plant may have caused a 100,000-gallon overflow of partially treated sewage after the plant experienced a power outage. The mixed liquor hadn’t been fully