Juneau's wastewater permit would be renewed despite a record of violations

Juneau's permit to discharge treated wastewater into Gastineau Channel would be renewed under a draft the state posted this week, even though the plant has run afoul of its limits in 12 of the last 13 quarters.

The state's environmental agency issued the draft Sept. 9. The permit itself expired in February and has been operating on an administrative extension since. Federal records show violations in nearly every recent quarter, two of them serious.

The renewal would keep the plant's ceiling the same as in 2020, up to 6 million gallons a day, though it has actually been discharging about 1 million on average.

The draft also allows a "mixing zone" near the outfall — a defined patch of water, right where the discharge enters the channel, where the effluent can exceed water-quality limits before it dilutes. Those limits are set by how the water is used: stricter where people harvest shellfish or swim, looser elsewhere.

Comments are due Oct. 9, through the state's public notice site or to the permit writer.