BRADENTON, Fla. — The Atlanta Department of Watershed Management reached its latest federal consent decree milestone by completing two major wastewater infrastructure improvements under budget by $50 million, officials said.
The Peachtree Creek Capacity Relief Project and citywide sewer rehabilitation finished ahead of the July 1 deadline imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, city officials said July 10.
The $40 million relief storage tank and pump station will alleviate sewer overflows during heavy rain in the Peachtree Creek basin. Through revisions to the original design and construction of the tank on city-owned property, DWM achieved cost savings of more than $50 million.
To meet consent decree obligations for sewer rehabilitation, DWM inspected all of the city's 1,600 miles of sewer lines and determined that more than 380 miles of repair work was necessary to drastically reduce sewage spills. More than 119 miles of sewer mains were repaired for the July 1 milestone deadline. The sewer rehabilitation will be completed by July 2027.
"Our consent decree accomplishments are a fine example of value engineering at work, resulting in a $50 million savings on $200 million in projected spending," said DWM Commissioner Jo Ann Macrina.
Atlanta received its first consent decree from the EPA in 1998 to address combined sewer overflows. That work was completed in 2008.
In 1999, the EPA issued a second consent decree mandating that Atlanta address its aging sewer infrastructure.
In 2012, U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash granted Atlanta a 13-year extension on its consent decree, which allows the department to exercise fiscal balance across all infrastructure types, including water, wastewater and stormwater.
All three major rating agencies upgraded the city's $3.1 billion of water and wastewater bond ratings ahead of a $568.7 million refunding in August 2013. Moody's Investors Service raised its rating to Aa3 from A1, while Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's upgraded their ratings to A-plus from A.
In addition to department revenues, the rehabilitation program is supported by a voter-approved Municipal Option Sales Tax.
