On November 29, 2021, a federal court in western Pennsylvania entered a federal-state consent decree (CD) resolving alleged CWA violations at the Hussey Copper smelting facility in Leetsdale, PA. The CD will resolve CWA and parallel state violations including exceedances of numeric effluent limit for copper, chromium, nickel, oil and grease, lead, pH, TSS, and zinc, and violations of the narrative standard for oil sheens. The CD requires Hussey Copper to: (1) conduct a comprehensive review of its wastewater treatment system to identify the critical operating variables and determine appropriate operating ranges; (2) hire a third party auditor to evaluate environmental and implement appropriate corrective measures; (3) implement a tiered violation response system to correct NPDES discharge violations; (4) conduct annual compliance training for employees and contractors; (5) to hire a third party consultant to review and update the facility?s environmental management system (EMS); (6) hire another third party consultant to audit EMS implementation; and (7) pay stipulated penalties on demand for CD non-compliance and non-compliance with NPDES effluent limits. In addition to this injunctive relief, the CD includes a $861,500 civil penalty, to be split between the United States and PADEP. (In December 2020, Hussey Copper entered into a plea agreement in a parallel criminal proceeding relating to different claims involving falsified DMRs and related submissions.)