By Katie Northcott, News Director
On Monday, Feb. 9, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) issued a Commissioner’s Order and Assessment (COA) to the City of Manchester stating the city had violated the Water Quality Control Act.
TDEC sent the order to Peterson Media Group in response to a request for comment regarding evidence that Manchester Mayor Joey Hobbs had personally approved a sewer tap that flowed to chronic overflowing manholes. This approval appears to have violated TDEC’s self-imposed moratorium order. Find that story here.
TDEC’s COA states that from January to December 2025 the city failed to comply with the “limitations and conditions” set forth in its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. As a result, the city has been assessed a $146,000 civil penalty. The city must pay $29,200 to the Tennessee Division of Fiscal Services within 31 days of Feb. 9.
TDEC’s COA states that Manchester reported 108 sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) events between January 2025 and December 2025. These resulted in over 25,000,000 gallons of overflow. Forty-eight of these SSOs occurred at identified chronic manholes.
The city must submit a record of all connections approved by the Manchester Water and Sewer Department since March 15, 2024. Additionally, the moratorium on new sewer taps downstream of chronic manholes will no longer be self-administered and will be administered by TDEC. This means the state must approve any new connection in the area subject to the moratorium.
TDEC further stated that the city’s sewer system does not have the capacity to support Little Leaf Farms, which has been slated to invest nearly $75 million in the city and create 318 new jobs over five years. Find that story here.
TDEC has said that Manchester can provide a plan for interim solutions to “alleviate the potential for downstream SSOs cause by wastewater collected from the Little Leaf facility.” The plan must be provided within 31 days, and the city must provide an update on progress a monthly update on progress toward executing the plan.
Peterson Media Group has reached out to Hobbs for comment.
TDEC stated that the city can appeal the order.
TDEC’s CAO is attached below.
