Protect Onion Creek from Sewage on October 6th!

A developer is seeking to dump treated municipal sewage into Onion Creek. 

Join us at a TCEQ public meeting to oppose the permit on Monday, October 6th at 7pm at 1042 Event Center Drive, Dripping Springs, TX, 78620 and submit written comments here using permit no. WQ0016475001.

Issues with the Draft Permit for TPDES Permit No. WQ0016475001:

Allied Development, LLC, (an out of town developer who does not have an approved development plan, does not have an approved source of water for the development, and does not own the property for the development) has applied for new TPDES Permit No. WQ0016475001 (the draft permit) to discharge 45,000 gallons per day of treated municipal sewage into Onion Creek to serve the high-density development Madelynn Estates near Ranch Road 12 and FM 150. The draft permit has effluent limits of 5 mg/L CBOD, 5 mg/L TSS, 2 mg/L Ammonia Nitrogen, .15 mg/L TP, and 6 mg/L TN. The draft permit does not have any effluent limits for emerging contaminants of concern.

SOS is concerned that the draft permit will violate water quality standards by reducing dissolved oxygen in Onion Creek, causing fish kills, harming wildlife, causing metabolic and behavioral changes in wildlife, causing nuisance algal blooms, making recreation unsafe, and failing overall to maintain water quality.

Many of these water quality violations will be caused by the excess phosphorus and nitrogen, also known as nutrients, contained in wastewater. Algae and aquatic plants take up the nutrients as they grow, and the more they have, the more they grow. When the algae and aquatic plants grow too much, they can cause dissolved oxygen levels to plummet, cause fish kills, cause changes in the community of animals living in a stream, and make human recreation unpleasant and unsafe.

Pristine Hill Country streams, like Onion Creek, have naturally low levels of phosphorus and nitrogen; that is one of the reasons the water is so clean and clear. Even a little bit extra phosphorus and nitrogen can cause an overgrowth of algae and aquatic plants and other negative changes in the stream.

For the permit here, the total phosphorus limit in the draft permit is ten times higher than the limit estimated by U.S. EPA reports that is needed to protect Hill Country streams. And studies conducted by Dr. King and Dr. Back from Baylor University in Onion Creek show that the total phosphorus limit in the draft permit is too high and will likely cause harmful algae blooms. The same goes for total nitrogen.

In addition to nutrients in the wastewater, the wastewater discharge will contain emerging contaminants of concern. Emerging contaminants of concern include personal care products, pesticides, soaps, pharmaceuticals, PFAS/PFOA and other harmful chemicals. TCEQ has not analyzed the harms these contaminants will cause in Onion Creek even though these contaminants are harmful to Onion Creek and human health.

All of this pollution is particularly concerning because Onion Creek is an important recharge feature for the Edwards Aquifer and the Middle Trinity Aquifer. Nearby wells and downstream springs are at risk of contamination from pathogens, emerging contaminants of concern, and nitrates due to wastewater pollution.

We hope to see you at the public meeting to echo these concerns and to urge TCEQ to follow the Clean Water Act, deny the draft permit, and protect Onion Creek!