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Hunt Building agrees to resolve stormwater violations at construction sites at the United States Air Force Academy

Release Date: 08/08/2014
Contact Information: Lisa McClain-Vanderpool, mcclain-vanderpool.lisa@epa.gov, 303-312-6077

Hunt Building agrees to resolve stormwater violations at construction sites at the United States Air Force Academy

(Denver, Colo. – August 8, 2014) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that Hunt Building has agreed to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations at two military housing construction sites at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. The company will pay a civil penalty of $310,000.

Today’s agreement resolves alleged stormwater permit violations discovered through EPA inspections of Hunt Building’s construction sites on the Air Force Academy campus. The majority of these alleged violations involved the company’s repeated failure to comply with requirements in an EPA permit.

“Keeping contaminated stormwater runoff out of the nation’s waterways is an EPA priority,” said Shaun McGrath, EPA’s regional administrator in Denver. “EPA and our partners encourage builders to use the tools and resources available to help them to comply with these regulations.”

Stormwater permits issued under the Clean Water Act require that builders have controls in place at their construction sites to prevent the runoff of pollutants to nearby waterways. These include safeguards such as silt fences, phased site-grading, and sediment basins. Permits also require appropriate training for subcontractors and employees about pollution control practices.

Stormwater runoff from construction activities can have a significant impact on water quality, affecting drinking water, reducing usability, and damaging valuable aquatic habitats. As stormwater flows over a construction site, it can pick up pollutants such as sediment, debris, and chemicals. It can then transport these to a nearby storm sewer system or directly to a river, lake, or coastal water. Polluted stormwater runoff can harm or kill fish and other wildlife. Sedimentation can destroy aquatic habitat, and high volumes of runoff can cause stream bank erosion.

Today’s settlement is the latest in a series of EPA enforcement actions to address stormwater violations at construction sites around the country. Hunt Building, based in El Paso, Texas, is one of the nation’s leading companies engaged in building, renovating, and demolishing privatized housing at military bases.

The settlement agreement, lodged in the U.S. District Court of Colorado, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. It is available at: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

More information about construction stormwater:
http://water.epa.gov/polwaste/npdes/stormwater/Stormwater-Discharges-From-Construction-Activities.cfm