City of Lawton receives new violation notice for wastewater plant

The City of Lawton is dealing with a new Notice of Violation for its wastewater treatment plant.

City officials said Tuesday they had received a Notice of Violation from the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) stemming from a complaint received in January regarding conditions in Nine Mile Creek. According to the notice, Lawton is being cited for inoperable grit removal basins, aeration system failures and excessive sludge accumulation in primary clarifiers, which impacted effluent quality from January to July. These issues already have been addressed under the Wastewater Treatment Plant Consent Order, city officials said Tuesday.

Officials said significant upgrades have been made to the plant since the initial complaint in January and the plant has been in full compliance since July 26. While slated for replacement, the grit removal basins currently are being cleaned manually to maintain operations. The four primary clarifiers are being cleared of excessive sludge routinely and returned to service. A comprehensive rehabilitation project is underway to replace the influent pump station, course and fine screening, solids handling upgrade, and controls as part of the $85 million Phase I renovation project at the WWTP, city administrators said. Temporary aeration basin blower rentals units remain on-site and will be replaced with new, permanent units as part of the upgrades, they said.

City officials also responded to the fact the city was cited for improperly reporting these issues to ODEQ in January. Plant performance, including compliance issues, are reported monthly with the plant Discharge Monitoring Report, they said. Since July, the city continues to share daily lab results from plant compliance with local and state DEQ offices, city officials said.

City administrators said the ongoing improvements demonstrate the city’s dedication to sustaining full compliance, protecting public health and the environment. The $85 million Phase I renovations are on track for completion by Summer 2025. Phase II upgrades, 60 percent designed, are expected to be ready for construction advertisement by July 2025.

In July 2024, the City of Lawton received a Notice of Violation citing discharge without a permit as the primary issue, with data specifying high ammonia concentrations. The notice was in reference to a July 7 incident when a Walters resident reported finding dead fish in East Cache Creek near Sultan Park. City officials said in September that ODEQ had cleared Lawton of responsibility, after the city provided evidence that environmental factors contributed to the fish kill.

City officials also said planned upgrades already were addressing concerns cited in a Notice of Violation they received in April, alleging multiple illegal discharges from the plant since December 2023. State officials said an environmental programs specialist responding to a citizen’s complaint investigated the site three times and found on Jan. 18 the plant’s effluent “had the gray appearance and odor of sewage, which is indicative that the WWTF (wastewater treatment facility) was only providing partial secondary biological treatment.” He observed the same problem on Feb. 26; on April 11, he said while plant discharge was gray, it did not have the odor of sewage.

ODEQ also said the agency received six complaints between Feb. 26 and April 10 regarding the plant’s ability to “provide sufficient wastewater treatment and/or the adversely impacted state of Nine Mile Creek and/or East Cache Creek.”

The plant, located southeast of Lawton, discharges effluent into Nine Mile Creek, which flows into East Cache Creek. City officials said upgrades already under way were addressing the issues.