Enforcement and Inspection

Recycler Cited in Double Fatality – July Enforcement Wrap-Up

Mining facility discharges polluted water
Gravel mining facility
New Hampshire
EPA Region 1
SPCC violations: According to the EPA, the facility discharged process wastewaters and stormwater without proper permits and violated the federal Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations by failing to prepare and implement a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan.
Penalty: $532,500 fine

USVI health department fined
U.S. Virgin Island (USVI) Department of Health
USVI
EPA Region 2
RCRA violations: The EPA inspections at the facilities found unlabeled and decaying containers of chemicals and pesticides on the properties. Many of the containers spilled and the USVI Department of Health failed to properly identify what types of waste were being stored.
Penalty: $68,000 fine


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O&G company violated well permit
Oil and gas (O&G) company
Pennsylvania
EPA Region 3
Underground injection well violations: According to information provided by the company in response to an information request from the EPA, the disposal well failed mechanical integrity sometime in early April 2011. The company failed to notify the EPA in a timely manner, as required by law, and continued to inject brine into the well through August 2011.
Penalty: $159,624 fine

Feedlot violates CWA
Cattle feedlot
Iowa EPA Region 7
CWA violations: According to the EPA, inspectors observed evidence of discharges of process wastewater and pollutants from the facility into Rush Creek. The feedlot was confining 1,050 cattle and was subject to regulation as a large CAFO. However, the facility did not have the necessary NPDES permit, nor had it applied for one, as required by the CWA.
Penalty: $10,000 fine

Unauthorized discharges yield fine
Portland cement supplier
Colorado
EPA Region 8
CWA violations: According to the Combined Complaint and Consent Agreement with the U.S. EPA, the facility had unauthorized groundwater discharges, failed to comply with sampling requirements, failed to comply with inspection requirements, and failed to develop an adequate stormwater management plan for its operations in violation of its permit and the CWA.
Penalty: $36,500 fine


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Recycler cited in double fatality
Recycling and recovery facility
California
EPA Region 9
Cal/OSHA violations: According to Cal/OSHA, the company failed to have proper procedures in place to identify and post all confined space hazards, train workers and supervisors, test for dangerous levels of gas, and conduct rescues. Two workers died from inhaling hydrogen sulfide gas while cleaning an underground storm drain system.
Penalty: $166,890 fine

City violates CWA
Municipal sewage treatment facility
Washington
EPA Region 10
CWA violations: According to the EPA, the treatment facility exceeded levels of ammonia in its NPDES permit more than 431 times between 2006 and 2010. Ammonia constituted the majority of the violations. The facility also discharged without permit between June 2010 and September 2011.
Penalty: $57,000 fine

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