In February 2003, the City of Olean (City) entered an Order on Consent with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) for State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit violations that occurred at the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) from January 1998 through February 2000.  The violations occurred due to excessive wet weather flows and included excursions for settleable solids, total suspended solids (TSS) and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD).

The Order on Consent established Action Items and a Schedule of Compliance. These Action Items included submittal and implementation of a sewer system assessment plan to address collection system monitoring and maintenance as well as enforcement of the City’s existing Sewer Use Ordinance (SUO), pump station assessments, and a wet weather operating plan. It was determined that these Action Items were insufficient to meet SPDES permit compliance. As a result, the City was required to submit an Engineering Report and schedule for additional remediation work to achieve compliance. The 2005 Final Draft Master Plan (Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., 2005) was developed to fulfill this requirement by establishing goals, actions and projected outcomes of six major program elements:

• Treatment Plant Improvements
• Interceptor Improvements
• Pump Station Improvements
• Sanitary Sewer System Asset Management
• Storm Sewer Asset Management
• Sewer Use Ordinance Enforcement

Wastewater Master Plan Final Draft

Mayor's Press Release 4/16/2025 - Citywide Stormwater Basin Testing Underway