ATLANTA, GA, June 14, 2010 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued Administrative Orders (AOs) against eight entities in Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee between January and April for violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA).
"By taking these enforcement actions, we are sending a strong message about the importance of protecting rivers, lakes and streams across the Southeast," said Stan Meiburg, EPA Region 4 Acting Regional Administrator. "To protect our region's waters, these regulated entities must comply with the Clean Water Act and promptly take the steps needed to resolve the violations noted in our inspections."
Seven entities were cited for alleged stormwater-related violations of the CWA. Polluted stormwater runoff is a leading cause of impairment to the nearly 40 percent of surveyed U.S. water bodies which do not meet water quality standards. Over land or via storm sewer systems, polluted runoff is discharged, often untreated, directly into local water bodies. The entities cited and their associated violations include:
• Alabama Department of Transportation, for violations at the Buttermilk Road Project construction site in Tuscaloosa, Ala.;
• Burns Construction Company Inc., for violations at the Jamestown Villas in Tuscaloosa, Ala.;
• City of Memphis, for violations at the Applying/I-40 Northwest Planned Development in Memphis, Tenn.;
• Hillside, LLC, for violations at the Hillside Terrace subdivision in Louisville, Ky.;
• Outdoor Properties, LLC, for violations at the Woburn Place Section 1 in Radcliff, Ky.;
• Salt River Development Company, LLC, for violations along the Cedar Grove Phase 3 Park Loop Road in Shepherdsville, Ky.; and
• Shelby County, for violations at the Houston Levee Road Improvements in Memphis, Tenn.
EPA issued AOs requiring the violators to revise and implement their Construction Pollution Prevention Plans, install and maintain Best Management Practices, conduct adequate self-inspections, cease discharging and address areas where sediment had been discharged.
Another company, Pharr Yarns, LLC, was cited for the discharge of pollutants from its wastewater treatment plant in violation of its effluent limits included in its North Carolina National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. EPA issued an AO requiring the company to submit and implement a Comprehensive Performance Evaluation Plan to remedy its effluent violations.
Congress enacted the Clean Water Act (CWA) in 1972 to protect the nation's rivers, lakes and stream, as well as some of the more fragile and vital wetland habitats. The entities cited violated the CWA by failing to meet the requirements of their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits, and subsequently causing point source discharges. Pollutants of concern include nutrients, sediment, oil and grease, chemicals and metals. When left uncontrolled, water pollution can deplete needed oxygen and/or otherwise result in the destruction of aquatic habitats, as well as the fish and wildlife that depend on them. Water pollution can also contaminate food, drinking water supplies and recreational waterways, and hereby pose a threat to public health.
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