EPA’s Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has announced that the agency is stepping up its efforts on Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement. The Clean Water Action Enforcement Plan is a first step in revamping the compliance and enforcement program. It seeks to improve the protection of our nation’s water quality, raise the bar in federal and state performance, and enhance public transparency.
“The safety of the water that we use in our homes—the water we drink and give to our children—is of paramount importance to our health and our environment. Having clean and safe water in our communities is a right that should be guaranteed for all Americans,” said Administrator Jackson. “Updating our efforts under the Clean Water Act will promote innovative solutions for 21st century water challenges, build stronger ties between EPA, state, and local actions, and provide the transparency the public rightfully expects.”
The plan outlines how EPA will strengthen the way it addresses the water pollution challenges of this century. These challenges include pollution caused by numerous, dispersed sources, such as concentrated animal feeding operations, sewer overflows, contaminated water that flows from industrial facilities, construction sites, and runoff from urban streets.
The goals of the plan are to target enforcement to the most significant pollution problems, improve transparency and accountability by providing the public with access to better data on the water quality in their communities, and strengthen enforcement performance at the state and federal levels. Elements of the plan include the following:
- Develop more comprehensive approaches to ensure enforcement is targeted to the most serious violations and the most significant sources of pollution.
- Work with states to ensure greater consistency throughout the country with respect to compliance and water quality. Ensure that states are issuing protective permits and taking enforcement to achieve compliance and remove economic incentives to violate the law.
- Use 21st century information technology to collect, analyze and use information in new, more efficient ways and to make that information readily accessible to the public. Better tools will help federal and state regulators identify serious compliance problems quickly and take prompt actions to correct them.
Last July, Administrator Jackson directed EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance to develop the plan in response to data showing that the nation’s water quality is unacceptably low in many parts of the country.
Clean Air Grants Available in Texas
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has announced that new grants are now available under the TCEQ’s Texas Emissions Reduction Plan (TERP) program. The TERP Rebate Grant program provides incentives to eligible individuals, businesses, or local governments to reduce emissions from polluting vehicles and equipment. The TERP grants are available for projects in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the Beaumont-Port Arthur area, the Tyler-Longview area, the Austin area, and the San Antonio area.
Previously, the TERP program has awarded contracts totaling more than $775 million that will reduce more than 160,000 tons of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) in Texas.
The Rebate Grant program will offer $26 million in funding for eligible projects to replace or repower heavy-duty on-road diesel vehicles and non-road diesel equipment. This program was created to simplify the grant application process. The eligible reimbursement amounts are predetermined based on default usage rates (miles or hours). A portion of the funding allocated to the Rebate Grant program will be set aside for entities that qualify as a small business according to TERP guidelines. Small businesses are encouraged to apply under this program. Applications will be received and reviewed on a first-come basis until March 31, 2010, or until all funding is distributed.
EPA Seeks Comment on Solvent-Contaminated Industrial Wipes Rule
EPA is seeking public comment on a revised risk analysis developed for the 2003 proposed Solvent-Contaminated Industrial Wipes Rule. EPA has revised the risk analysis in response to comments received when the rule was proposed. The rule is meant to improve the clarity and consistency of the regulations for wipes and reduce the cost of regulatory compliance, while maintaining the same level of protection for the environment.
The revised risk analysis, which was peer reviewed, includes updated data and information, including the use of a newly developed landfill model. The revised risk analysis shows that 8 of the 20 solvents evaluated could pose a potential health risk if disposed of in an unlined municipal solid waste landfill. The revised risk analysis also shows that tetrachloroethylene has a potential health risk if contaminated wipes or laundry sludge are disposed in a composite lined landfill.
In 2003, EPA proposed to conditionally exclude from the definition of hazardous waste disposable industrial wipes that are contaminated with hazardous solvents and are going to disposal. EPA also proposed to conditionally exclude from the definition of solid waste reusable industrial shop towels and rags that are contaminated with hazardous solvents and are sent for cleaning.
The public comment period will be open for 60 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register.
EPA Issues Advanced Notice on Emissions Factors Program Improvements
EPA’s goal is to develop a self-sustaining emissions factors program that produces high quality, timely emissions factors, better indicates the precision and accuracy of emissions factors, encourages the appropriate use of emissions factors, and ultimately improves emissions quantification.
Although initially developed for emissions inventory purposes only, use of emissions factors has been expanded to a variety of air pollution control activities including permitting, enforcement, modeling, control strategy development, and risk analysis. The ANPRM discusses the appropriateness of using emissions factors for these activities.
Comments must be received on or before November 13, 2009.
Pew Center on Global Climate Change Launches Blog: Climate Compass
. Key topics to be covered include Senate legislation, the Copenhagen climate talks, Obama administration actions, climate science, low-carbon technology, and corporate and individual strategies to address climate change.
NOx Cap and Trade Program has Lowered Smog Levels in Eastern United States
The NOx Budget Trading Program (BTP) is a partnership between federal and state governments to reduce the regional transport of NOx from power plants and industry in the eastern United States. This market-based cap and trade program was created to cost-effectively reduce NOx emissions during the ozone season.
EPA released a report showing that more than 103 million Americans breathe cleaner air thanks to the a cap and trade program that reduces smog-forming emission of Nitrogen Oxides (NOx).
Highlights of the report show that:
- The reduction of NOx has helped reduce smog levels by 10% to 14% in the NBP region—largely in the eastern parts of the country;
- There is a strong association between areas with the greatest reductions in NOx emissions and downwind sites that show the greatest improvements in smog; and
- The program contributed to improvements in air quality in 97% of nonattainment areas in the east, with 85% of these areas now below the smog standard.
The BTP program provides facilities flexibility to choose their control options including installing control technologies, replacing existing controls with more advanced technologies, optimizing existing controls, and switching fuels. This flexibility and an active NOx allowance market have led to near perfect compliance since the start of the program in 2003.
Safety Kleen Systems to Pay $11,200 Penalty for Violating Hazardous Waste Requirements
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized Safety Kleen Systems, Inc., of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, $11,200 for violating provisions of its Hazardous Waste Storage license. In January, Safety Kleen notified MassDEP that it had inadvertently shipped a railcar containing oily waste that was contaminated with Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) to a facility not able to properly dispose of that waste. When made aware of its error by the receiving facility, the company took immediate steps to properly dispose of the contents of the railcar.
Further investigation revealed that Safety Kleen could not determine the exact source of the PCB contamination, as samples from each generator were not taken and retained. The taking and retention of those samples is a requirement of Safety Kleen’s license. The company has agreed to comply with applicable regulations and pay the $11,200 penalty.
“MassDEP-licensed Hazardous Waste Storage facilities go through an extensive licensing process in an effort to minimize events such as this,” said Martin Suuberg, director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester. “The company acted quickly to address the issue, and has put additional procedures in place to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.”
20 Year Prison Sentence for RCRA and CWA Violations
The sentence includes the maximum jail term for the CWA and RCRA violations. Last March, Baggett assaulted EPA and other law enforcement officers when they attempted to arrest him in Marathon, Florida.
“EPA’s professional and dedicated law enforcement special agents are the ‘line in the sand’ against those who put illegal gain ahead of public health and the environment,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “EPA will continue to vigorously pursue criminal violations of environmental regulations.”
In September 2007, Baggett was indicted on charges related to illegally dumping various pollutants onto the ground and into a drain that led to the treatment plant operated by the South Davis Sewer Improvement District in West Bountiful, Utah, between October 2004 and April 2005. The treatment plant had a permit to discharge treated effluent to the Jordan River, which empties into the Great Salt Lake.
According to court records, Baggett instructed his employees to dispose of industrial wastes by dumping them onto the ground and into a sanitary sewer drain, which fed directly to the wastewater treatment plant. One of the wastes, nonylphenol, is a powerful organic chemical and heavy-duty industrial cleaner that is toxic to aquatic life. Baggett’s actions allegedly caused the plant to violate permit limits for acute toxicity 22 times.
Previously, government officials from the local sewer district prohibited Baggett’s company from discharging to the sewer system because its wastes had routinely exceeded limits for certain pollutants.
Baggett owned and operated Chemical Consultants, Inc., North Salt Lake City, Utah, a company that mixed and sold chemical products used in the trucking, construction, and concrete industries.
In April 2008, two months before his trial, Baggett became a fugitive when he failed to appear in court, as required by the conditions of his release and bond.
Michigan Court Upholds $869,150 Penalty Imposed Upon BP Products North America
Michigan’s Ingham County 30th Circuit Court Judge, James R. Giddings, has affirmed actions taken by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to collect $869,150 in environmental penalties from BP Products North America. The Court’s ruling supports the DEQ’s assessment of compliance penalties against BP for its failure to submit reports relating to cleanup of soil and groundwater that resulted from releases of gasoline from underground storage tanks (UST) at eight formerly owned BP stations throughout Michigan. The Court ruling also reaffirms the importance of submitting required reports that document cleanup actions taken at leaking UST sites to the DEQ.
BP has reported petroleum releases from UST systems at more than 200 former gasoline stations which BP owned and operated in Michigan.
With nearly half of Michigan’s population relying on groundwater for their drinking water source, contamination from leaking UST sites remains a significant problem for the state. Michigan ranks third in the nation, behind Florida and California, for the highest number of releases from UST sites yet to be cleaned up, with more than 9,000 currently known.
MFG Chemical will Pay $270,000 Penalty for Toxic Explosion at Georgia Plant
MFG Chemical Inc., has agreed to pay $270,000 in civil penalties to resolve claims resulting from a toxic release on April 12, 2004, of extremely hazardous chemicals at the company’s Dalton, Georgia, plant. The toxic release resulted from a runaway reaction at the plant when MFG, upon its initial production run for triallyl cyanuarate, mixed allyl alcohol with other chemicals, leading to an extreme increase in temperature and causing an explosion that released toxic gases to the atmosphere.
As a result, the surrounding community within a half mile radius of the MFG plant was evacuated. Over 150 people, including several emergency responders, were treated for exposure at the local hospital. One-half mile of vegetation south of the MFG plant was also burned and much of the aquatic life was killed throughout several miles of surrounding creeks which were contaminated by the water sprayed on the toxic vapor cloud in an attempt to control the vapor release.
The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that MFG failed to adhere to the Clean Air Act’s (CAA) general duty of care provision. The general duty of care requirement obligates companies handling extremely hazardous substances to take preventative measures to identify the risks involved and to reduce the risks by providing layers of protection on their equipment such as high temperature alarms, automatic feed shut off mechanisms, adequate pressure relief systems, and a vapor release recovery and containment system. The complaint alleges MFG failed to identify the risk of a runaway reaction through its failure to calculate the temperature/time profile and to have appropriate layers of protection in place prior to the incident.
MFG has implemented measures to address conditions at the plant contributing to the explosion and release, including halting the use of allyl alcohol and hiring an experienced safety engineer to oversee its compliance with its CAA obligations. MFG also paid for the clean up of surrounding contaminated creeks.
The $270,000 reflects the civil penalty that the United States determined MFG has the financial ability to pay.
$246,412 in Penalties for Sewage Treatment System Violations
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has penalized Forest Lakes Resort LLC, $246,412 in penalties for failing to properly maintain and operate a sewage treatment facility at the site and for failing to monitor groundwater and effluent on their property in Seaside, Oregon. This is the eighth-largest penalty DEQ has issued in its 40-year history.
Forest Lakes Resort, located on the Necanicum River, includes numerous tent camping sites, RV spaces and spaces for mobile homes, and includes permanent mobile home tenants. The property is just upstream of the drinking water intake for the city of Seaside.
The facility has operated under a Water Pollution Control Facilities permit since 2003. The permit required completion of an updated sewage treatment system by 2004. The improved sewage system is still not in place, despite DEQ’s efforts to work with the facility’s operator on an alternate system. DEQ had approved designs for an alternate system in 2006, and Forest Lakes Resort agreed the new system would be constructed in accordance with approved plans. To date, the improved system is not complete.
As part of the penalty, DEQ has issued Forest Lakes Resort an order requiring operation of the current sewage system in a manner that will prevent sewage discharge onto the ground surface or into public waters. The current system does not have the capacity to adequately treat and dispose of sewage in a manner that is safe from an environmental and public health standpoint. The DEQ order also requires Forest Lakes Resort to either apply for a permit modification by October 21, 2009, and complete construction of a new system as soon as weather allows but no later than July 31, 2010, or disconnect and decommission the existing system by July 31, 2010.
Of the $246,412 penalty, most of that amount ($235,395) represents the economic benefit Forest Lakes Resort gained by failing to upgrade the sewage treatment and disposal system as required. DEQ penalized the facility for failing to construct, operate, and maintain an approved domestic sewage treatment and disposal facility ($238,020 penalty) and for failing to monitor effluent and groundwater at the site ($8,392 penalty, which includes $6,017 in economic benefit gained by failing to incur the monitoring costs). DEQ also cited the facility for failing to ensure that all waste collection, control, treatment, and disposal facilities were in good working order at all times and operated in a way the prevents health hazards and nuisance conditions, but did not assess a penalty for this violation.
This is not the first time this facility has run into serious environmental law violations. The facility’s former owner was penalized $317,700 in 2002, for violating an order to repair a failing septic system on the property by not submitting all information required for his Water Pollution Control Facilities permit.
EPA Fines Valimet, Inc. Nearly $194,000 for Toxic Chemical Reporting Violations
EPA has fined Valimet, Inc., of Stockton, California, $193,996 for failing to submit reports detailing the amount of aluminum dust and copper compounds processed at its facility, a violation of toxic release inventory (TRI) reporting requirements of Section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
During a routine inspection in April 2004, EPA discovered that Valimet, Inc., processed more than 3 million pounds of aluminum (fume or dust) and more than 53,000 pounds of copper compounds annually between 2001 and 2005. Federal law requires facilities manufacturing or processing 25,000 pounds or more of aluminum (fume or dust) or copper compounds to report any release of these toxic chemicals on an annual basis to the EPA and the state.
The manufacturing company that produces metal powder failed to submit reports to the EPA for any of these years. An EPA administrative law judge ordered the company to pay the fine after an administrative hearing was held late last year.
“Facilities that process toxic chemicals, such as aluminum (fume or dust) and copper compounds, must follow reporting laws so residents and emergency response personnel are aware of possible chemical hazards in the local environment,” said Enrique Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems Division Director for EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “This penalty should remind others that we are maintaining a close watch over chemical reporting practices and are serious about enforcing community right-to-know laws.”
Toxic chemical reporting allows the public to be informed about releases and waste management activities of chemicals in their communities, and provides information for research and development of appropriate regulations.
SFO Fuel and Chevron Fined $177,500 for CWA Violations for Jet Fuel Storage at San Francisco Airport
EPA is entering into two related agreements with SFO Fuel and Chevron in order to resolve violations of the CWA at a large jet fuel storage facility located at the San Francisco International Airport. In 2008, SFO Fuel representatives contacted the EPA to self-report what they believed was inadequate secondary containment capacity, as required by the CWA. An EPA inspector performed an inspection at the facility and agreed that the facility had insufficient secondary containment capacity to prevent a catastrophic spill from potentially reaching waters of the San Francisco Bay.
“We appreciate SFO Fuel and Chevron’s proactive approach in coming forward to acknowledge this problem when they became aware of it,” noted Dan Meer, assistant director of the Superfund division in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “We are pleased that they are taking prompt steps to bring their secondary containment system into compliance with the Clean Water Act.”
SFO Fuel is an airline consortium which leases the SFO Fuel Tank Farm Facility at the San Francisco International Airport. The tank farm facility is operated by Chevron and includes seven above-ground storage tanks with a total capacity of nearly 15 million gallons. The largest tanks can hold up to approximately 90,000 barrels of jet fuel.
The CWA requires facilities to have secondary containment that can hold the full volume of the largest tank plus “freeboard’ or potential rainfall, in order to prevent releases of oil into waters of the United States. SFO Fuel’s tank farm is directly adjacent to San Francisco Bay.
SFO Fuel and Chevron have adjusted their operations at the tank farm with alarms and automatic shut-off valves in order to reduce the volume that is present in their largest tanks until the facility is able to increase the size of its secondary containment area. The agreements require the facility to come into full compliance by next year. The EPA is not aware of any spills or other violations at the tank farm facility.
In addition to committing to come into compliance with applicable regulations within one year, SFO Fuel and Chevron have agreed to pay a penalty of $177,500.
SFO Fuel has also agreed to improve the vulnerability of the tank farm’s containment structures to jet fuel by installing a geosynthetic clay liner throughout the secondary containment area.
$65,000 Fine for Storm Water Violations
In the Complaint, EPA alleges that based on an inspection in early 2009, ITD and Parsons RCI were operators of the Sandpoint Byway construction site along US-95. EPA inspectors observed violations of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Storm Water Construction General Permit including:
- Having an incomplete storm water pollution prevention plan,
- Failure to initiate necessary stabilization measures, and
- Failure to implement proper sediment controls.
According to Edward Kowalski, Director of the Office of Compliance and Enforcement in Seattle, the ITD is no stranger to the Agency’s storm water enforcement program.
“Idaho Transportation Department is somehow not getting the message,” said EPA’s Kowalski. “Over the past five years, ITD and its contractors have paid over $1 million in penalties for violations of the CWA. Their environmental management program needs to be upgraded so they can avoid future penalties.”
EPA Fines Firebird International Raceway $31,851 for Hazardous Waste Violations
EPA has fined Firebird International Raceway, a venue that hosts racing events, $31,851 for hazardous waste manifesting and reporting violations. In July 2006, EPA inspectors discovered four hazardous waste violations at the facility in Chandler, Arizona.
“Companies must properly store and handle hazardous waste to protect the community, workers and the environment,” said Jeff Scott, director of Waste Programs for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “The EPA will continue to strictly enforce all regulations governing facilities that generate and manage hazardous waste.”
The EPA found the facility failed to send their hazardous wastes off-site using hazardous waste manifests, failed to report the types and amounts of hazardous waste generated in 2003, failed to include all required information in its 2005 report, and failed to properly identify hazardous waste.
Firebird International Raceway hosts various racing events throughout the year. The wastes generated from racing events include various types of aerosol cans and used oil contaminated with racing fuels, brake and carburetor cleaners, and other engine fluids.
The EPA’s hazardous waste regulations require facilities to properly store, label, and manage hazardous waste generated from their activities. These wastes must then be properly sent, using a hazardous waste manifest, to facilities which are permitted to handle the wastes.
EPA Orders Cemex to Comply with Federal CWA Regulations
EPA has ordered Cemex, based in Marina, California, to comply with requirements under the CWA. Under federal law, sand and gravel mines are required to file for coverage under California’s General Industrial Activities Storm Water Permit. Cemex failed to file for coverage and therefore discharged storm water without authorization—a violation of the federal CWA.
The facility is required to take the following actions:
- File for coverage under California’s General Industrial Activities Storm Water Permit, if Cemex has not already done so;
- Develop and implement a storm water pollution prevention plan for the facility;
- Develop and implement a storm water monitoring plan for the facility;
- Complete specified interim corrective measures, e.g. cover lubricants; and
- Complete additional tasks identified in the order, within the time specified by the order.
The EPA discovered the violations during a September inspection at the sand and gravel mine operated by Cemex, Inc.
Ohio EPA Issues New Rule Revising SIP State Plan Concerning Portable Fuel Containers
Ohio EPA submitted a revision to EPA regarding its State Implementation Plan (SIP) under the CAA in order to reduce air pollution in Ohio. The SIP revision consists of a new regulation titled Ohio’s Administrative Code Rule 3745-21-17, “Control of VOC Emissions from Portable Fuel Containers.”
The new rule impacts the sale, use, and manufacture of Portable Fuel Containers (PFC) in Ohio. Ohio EPA submitted this request for approval of this rule on August 7, 2007 and EPA has now approved this rule.
The direct final rule will be effective December 14, 2009, unless EPA receives adverse comments by November 13, 2009. If adverse comments are received, EPA will publish a timely withdrawal of the direct final rule in the Federal Register informing the public that the rule will not take effect.
EPA Plans to Develop Interim Preliminary Remediation Goals for Dioxin in Soil
EPA is seeking public comment on a plan to develop interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for dioxin in soil at contaminated sites. The plan includes a review of current dioxin cleanup guidance that has been established by the EPA, states and other countries, including the latest fully peer-reviewed dioxin toxicity assessments.
EPA will release the draft interim PRGs for public comment in December 2009, and anticipates issuing the final interim PRGs in June 2010. EPA is currently undertaking a reassessment of dioxin, the results of which are expected to be released by the end of 2010.
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Trivia Question of the Week
Computers consume what percent of energy generated in the US?
a. 1%
b. 3%
c. 5%
d. 10%