Oregon fines BLM for Hyatt Lake sewage problems

Oregon environmental regulators have fined the U.S. Bureau of Land Management $5,000 for violations at a BLM-operated sewage treatment plant at the Hyatt Lake Recreation Area near Ashland. The BLM's permit allows it to apply reclaimed water land next to the treatment system's lagoons. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality said the federal agency used reclaimed water without adequately reducing the level of cloakroom bacteria on several occasions in 2007 and 2008. BLM also failed to monitor bacteria in July 2007, DEQ said, failed to monitor influent acidity from August to December 2008 and failed to submit required monthly wastewater discharge reports in July and August 2009. Oregonian