EXTRA, EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT! LOTS OF PRESS IN MARCH...
Sewage Flows into Cumberland in Putnam County, Tennessee
Tennessee Riverkeeper has announced that they intend to sue the town of Monterey for alleged sewage pollution. Monterey had a permit from the NPDES that allowed the facility to discharge wastewater to parts of Falling Water River. Monterey is a town in Putnam County near Cookeville. The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is located near the Falling Water River. Falling Water River flows into City Lake in Cookeville and Burgess Falls State Park in Sparta.
The Tennessean: Tennessee Riverkeeper says a sewage treatment plant in Monterey has violated the terms of its discharge permit. Raw sewage and inadequately ...
WSMV / Channel 4: Tennessee town to be sued for alleged sewage pollution violations. An environmental group intends to file suit against Monterey in federal district court in sixty days.
Cookeville Herald-Citizen: Several months after filing suit against the town of Celina, an environmental group says they also plan to sue Monterey for alleged violations of their wastewater treatment permit.
News Talk 94.1 FM (Cookeville): Tennessee Riverkeeper plans to sue Monterey for allegedly exceeding sewer discharge limits. Barry Sulkin, scientist for the organization, said: “Often pollution is not treated to levels required by the permit and/or there are discharges of untreated sewage, usually when it rains, at manholes or pump stations.”
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Cleanups
As cleanup season resumes, please pitch in and support our litter cleanup program. We will be announcing more cleanups soon. Please stay tuned to our social media sites and email blasts.
The cleanup program removes trash, mostly single-use plastics from creeks and rivers and shore lines. It reduces plastic pollution and microplastics in our water.
WKRN / Channel 2: Volunteers pull 1,000+ pounds of trash from Cumberland River in latest cleanup effort. Fueled mainly by volunteers, the organization has focused on ridding local waterways of plastic waste, all while educating the public on rising pollution across Nashville. “The development and all the people coming, the tourists, and just so many people coming to live in such a concentrated area is putting a lot of stress on the Cumberland and the tributaries as well,” said Whiteside. “A lot of it is coming from Broadway and the tourists and them just throwing stuff down on Broadway. That washes into the storm drains and ends up washing into the creeks and rivers too. And it’s not so much a visible eye sore, but it’s there.”
WSMV / Channel 4: “There is no easy solution to plastic pollution,” explained David Whiteside, executive director of Tennessee Riverkeeper. “Scientific studies have confirmed that microplastics and chemicals related to the plastic industry are found in humans and wildlife. These cleanups are a great short-term solution, but we need bigger solutions that prevent this problem from getting worse.”
Please support the cleanup program!
9 active cases on our legal docket:
Monterey, TN: On March 4, 2025, Tennessee Riverkeeper mailed notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act for pollution related to sewage overflows and also effluent violations. The Monterey Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) is located near the Falling Water River. Falling Water River flows into City Lake in Cookeville and Burgess Falls State Park in Sparta.
Maynardville, TN: On January 9, 2025, Tennessee Riverkeeper mailed notice of intent to sue under the Clean Water Act to Mayor Ty Blakely of the City of Maynardville for failure to avoid overflows in their sewage collection system.
Lebanon Landfill, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Lebanon, Tennessee over a closed landfill which we discovered is discharging pollutants containing PFAS chemicals to a tributary of Spring Creek, a tributary of Cumberland River. Riverkeeper seeks to have the discharge abated. Case number: 3:23-cv-01369 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
City of Celina, TN: On Friday, November 22, 2024, Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Celina for sewage pollution, including permit discharge limitation violations, mostly for Biochemical Oxygen Demand, but also Total Residual Chlorine, E.coli, Dissolved Oxygen and pH, and fifty overflow violations. The suit is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, case number: 2:24-cv-00079.
Kingston Springs, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper, Inc. recently filed a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act (CWA), against the Kingston Springs STP for violations of the CWA and the Tennessee Water Quality Control Act. The Kingston Springs Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) has had 1,099 days of Clean Water Act violations from July 2021 to April 2024, including overflows of raw sewage. David Whiteside said: “The Harpeth River is a Tennessee treasure, highly used for boating, swimming and fishing. This section of the Harpeth has boat accesses and is a point of entry for the Blueway canoe & kayak trail. The suit was filed October 16, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number: 3:24-cv-01241.
"Sky Nashville" in Nashville, TN: Sky Nashville is a large development located on a steep hill overlooking the city from the west at the junction of I-40 and I-440, north of Charlotte Avenue. The construction site, and pond of muddy water regularly flooding Delaware Avenue can be seen adjacent to the east bound lanes of the interstate. We filed a lawsuit on December 14, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number: 3:24-cv-01461.
Chapel Hill, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against the City of Chapel Hill, Tennessee over numerous and repeated violations of the pollution discharge limits found in their permit. The main pollutant of concern is Biochemical Oxygen Demand. Case number: 1:24-cv-00050 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
Barnes Dump in Nashville, TN: Tennessee Riverkeeper filed a lawsuit against Robert Barnes d/b/a Barnes Fill Site. The suit alleges that Barnes is violating the CWA and RCRA due to operating a Construction and Demolition Landfill which discharges stormwater to tributaries nearby without first obtaining a NPDES permit for C&D Landfills. Barnes discharges enter Sulphur Creek, a tributary of the Cumberland River. The suit was filed February 1, 2024 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Tennessee, case number 3:24-cv-00113.
"Dirt Mountain" in Nashville, TN: Our lawsuit against the owners and operators of the RR Farms Mass Grading site, which locals have designated “Dirt Mountain”, on Ashland City Highway near Pecan Valley Road continues to progress through the court. Case number: 3:23-cv-00878 in the US District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Nashville Division.
