Bluff City board approves TDEC consent order and timeline to address sewer overflows
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Summary
The Bluff City Board voted to sign a consent order from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation requiring corrective actions and milestone reports after multiple sanitary sewer overflows, including at 4418 Bluff City Highway; the town will submit a corrective action plan within 30 days to avoid additional fines.
Bluff City’s Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to sign a consent order from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) aimed at resolving multiple sanitary sewer overflows, the board announced at its first meeting of 2026.
Town staff and the board reviewed the consent order’s timeline and penalties during the meeting, noting past overflows and a schedule of deliverables. The order lists initial assessed damages and civil penalties; staff told the board a portion of the assessed penalties — described in the draft as an upfront damage payment of $1,532.93 and a total assessed civil penalty figure cited in the meeting materials — will be avoided if the town meets early milestones. The town must submit flow-monitoring data and a corrective action plan within 31 days of the order’s effective date to avoid specified fines.
Town Attorney Fry and consultant Austin of Mattern and Craig said the corrective action plan is negotiable with TDEC and gives the town an opportunity to set realistic, mutually agreed completion dates for repairs. Austin said staff have begun laying out repair steps and that the corrective action plan will include projected schedules for system repairs and monitoring. "My understanding from this is that within 30 days, TDEC will want this corrective action plan," Austin said during the presentation.
Board members questioned whether signing the consent order would impose limits on new sewer taps; staff confirmed the town previously implemented a self-imposed sewer-tap moratorium during the overflow response. The board discussed funding the work from the water and sewer fund and noted that fines and corrective costs would come from that fund.
After discussion the board made a motion and voted to proceed with signing the consent order and to continue work on the corrective action plan and required reporting to TDEC.
The board’s approval directs staff to submit the corrective action plan and monitoring data to TDEC within the timeframes outlined in the consent order; the town’s next steps include finalizing the plan with Mattern and Craig and continuing repairs to reduce overflow risk.