EPA enforcement actions against wastewater plants in New York
300 formal actions at 136 of 460 plants · $5.8M in penalties · 47 EPA inspections
EPA's enforcement records list 300 formal civil enforcement cases naming publicly owned wastewater treatment plants in New York, 45 of them since fiscal year 2020. The cases involve 136 of the state's 460 plants, with $5.8 million in penalties assessed. The most common ground is sewage sludge disposal (91 cases). EPA has inspected 30 plants in the state, 47 inspections in total. Every plant links to its profile, and every case to its report on EPA's ECHO site.
Recent enforcement actions in New York
| Plant | Date | Type | Law section | Outcome | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Millbrook Sewage Treatment Plant Millbrook | Aug 2026 · FY2025 | Administrative order | Effluent Limitations - NPDES Toxic & Pretreatment Effluent Standards | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2025-3002 |
| EPA's description: “Violations of the operation of the Overflow Reduction Facility, portions of the WWTP and effluent limit exceedances.” | ||||||
| Westfield (v) WPCF Westfield | Apr 2026 · FY2026 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2026-3018 |
| EPA's description: “Westfield Pollution Control Facility, a waste water treatment plant, was observed to have stormwater catch basins that discharge to a stormwater outfall. At the time of inspection, the Facility did…” | ||||||
| Walton - V WWTP Walton | Feb 2026 · FY2026 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2026-3012 |
| EPA's description: “Respondent to submit material to become a delegated pretreatment control authority.” | ||||||
| Amsterdam (c) WWTP Amsterdam | Feb 2026 · FY2026 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2026-3015 |
| EPA's description: “AO to develop a written O&M Manual for the sewer collection system and develop a comprehensive inspection/cleaning program for the sewer system.” | ||||||
| Herkimer (v) WWTP Herkimer | Feb 2026 · FY2026 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2026-3013 |
| EPA's description: “WWTP and Collection System upgrades” | ||||||
| Massena STP Massena | Jan 2026 · FY2024 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2024-3045 |
| EPA's description: “To develop and submit to EPA, and NYSDEC written O&M procedures for the sewer collection system.” | ||||||
| Liberty (v) WWTF Liberty | Sep 2025 · FY2025 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2025-3018 |
| EPA's description: “Administrative Order requiring the development of an SOP to respond and report Sanitary Sewer Overflows, a plan of action to conduct a multi-phase sanitary sewer evaluation survey, submit semi-annual…” | ||||||
| Avon WWTP Woodridge | Mar 2025 · FY2024 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2024-3034 |
| EPA's description: “To develop and submit to EPA, with a copy to NYSDEC, written operation and maintenance procedures for the collection system.” | ||||||
| Jamestown WWTP Jamestown | Dec 2024 · FY2025 | Administrative order | NPDES Discharge without a Permit | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2025-3005 |
| EPA's description: “Administrative Order on Consent to address permit violations identified during the inspection of Jamestown BPU's Industrial Pretreatment Program.” | ||||||
| Medina (v) WWTP Medina | Dec 2024 · FY2024 | Administrative order | NPDES Permit Violations | Final Order No Penalty | — | ECHO 02-2024-3005 |
| EPA's description: “The Village has to submit, to EPA and NYSDEC, written O&M Procedures for its CSO system and a PCCM Program Plan.” | ||||||
Full case histories, milestones, violation types and EPA's complete case summaries for every plant are shown with a free Klarifi account. Create one →
Largest penalties in New York
| # | Plant | Date | Type | Outcome | Penalty | Compliance actions | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Port Richmond Water Pollution Control Plant Staten Island | Oct 2017 · FY2002 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $1.3M | $95M | ECHO 02-2002-0013 |
| 2 | Tallman Island Wastewater Treatment Plant Queens | Oct 2017 · FY2002 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $1.3M | $95M | ECHO 02-2002-0013 |
| 3 | Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant East Rockaway | Nov 2020 · FY2015 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $427,500 | $1.1M | ECHO 02-2015-0015 |
| 4 | Glen Cove Wastewater Treatment Facility Glen Cove | Nov 2020 · FY2015 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $427,500 | $1.1M | ECHO 02-2015-0015 |
| 5 | Cedar Creek WPCP Wantagh | Nov 2020 · FY2015 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $427,500 | $1.1M | ECHO 02-2015-0015 |
| 6 | Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant East Rockaway | Sep 2012 · FY2011 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $400,000 | $2.9M | ECHO 02-2011-7506 |
| 7 | Glen Cove Wastewater Treatment Facility Glen Cove | Sep 2012 · FY2011 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $400,000 | $2.9M | ECHO 02-2011-7506 |
| 8 | Cedar Creek WPCP Wantagh | Sep 2012 · FY2011 | Administrative order | Final Order With Penalty | $400,000 | $2.9M | ECHO 02-2011-7506 |
| 9 | Dunkirk Wastewater Treatment Facility Dunkirk | Oct 1993 · FY1989 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $100,000 | — | ECHO 02-1989-0121 |
| 10 | Oswego (c) West Side WWTF Oswego | Aug 2010 · FY2005 | Judicial case | Final Order With Penalty | $99,000 | $87M | ECHO 02-2005-0011 |
Actions by fiscal year
| Fiscal year | Formal actions | Penalties |
|---|---|---|
| FY2017 | 11 | — |
| FY2018 | 10 | — |
| FY2019 | 7 | — |
| FY2020 | 7 | — |
| FY2021 | 5 | $7,725 |
| FY2022 | 5 | $1,500 |
| FY2023 | 8 | — |
| FY2024 | 13 | — |
| FY2025 | 3 | — |
| FY2026 | 4 | — |
EPA fiscal years run from 1 October to 30 September. The current year is partial.
EPA enforcement in New York: questions
Sources and methodology
Flow, permit and violation figures come from the EPA's ICIS-NPDES discharge monitoring records. Population served comes from the Clean Watersheds Needs Survey 2022. Treatment structures are identified by Klarifi's review of aerial imagery, and capital improvement projects are extracted from published municipal budget documents. Violations are counted over the last three years of monitoring reports.
Data refreshed September 17, 2026.
Enforcement data: EPA ICIS-FE&C civil enforcement cases and ICIS compliance inspections, via ECHO. Penalties are the amounts assessed or agreed in each case as EPA records them. Latest case status in this data: Aug 2026.