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Taking Tampa and Cintas to Task for Failure to Stop Sewage Overflows

Case Updates:

November 17, 2004

Tampa is usually cast as a tropical haven in Florida, a city that overlooks a vast and open body of water that is its namesake. However, over the past three years, both Tampa and the Cintas Corporation have been threatening the idyllic nature of the area by failing to obey the Clean Water Act and instead leaving behind a legacy of pollution and unregulated sewage overflows. Cintas, an industrial laundry company, has released oil and grease into the area’s sewage system and violated its operating permits no fewer than 16 times since spring of 2001. Add to this the 36 illegal sewage overflows made by the city of Tampa since 2003 and the picture becomes even dimmer. In response to this ongoing problem, Sierra Club in early October put the city of Tampa and Cintas on notice for their violations under the Clean Water Act. If either fails to clean up their act in a timely manner, Sierra Club will file suit.

This case highlights one of the Bush administration’s forgone opportunities to protect the environment and public health. Rather than supporting a proposed rule that would have reduced sewage overflows across the nation, the Bush administration instead worked to stop the rule and further proposed slashing $500 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund that is used to help communities upgrade their sewage systems. And this decision was made even though a report by the Environmental Protection Agency warned that sewage overflows are a serious threat to public health and safety.

Details and Documents:

Sierra Club Claims City Violating Water Act
Oct 8, 2004, By Mike Salinero, The Tampa Tribune