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Largest-Ever Underground Storage Tank Penalty Proposed Against Ft. Lewis

Release Date: 9/18/2000
Contact Information: Tim Hamlin
hamlin.tim@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-1563

September 18, 2000 - - - - - - - - - - - - 00-52


The Environmental Protection Agency today proposed a penalty of $469,661 against the U.S. Army’s Fort Lewis Army Installation for violations of federal underground storage tank (UST) regulations. The penalty -- which is the largest UST penalty ever proposed for a U.S. defense installation -- is part of an administrative complaint and compliance order issued today by the Regional office of the EPA.
Specific violations outlined in the complaint involve 32 of 62 regulated UST systems on the base, with 10 of the systems having more than one violation. The violations were discovered and shared with base personnel during facility inspections in January of 1994 and September of 1999. The Washington Department of Ecology participated in the 1999 inspection.

Most drinking water in the Fort Lewis area comes from relatively shallow groundwater sources which are particularly vulnerable to contamination. EPA found numerous UST violations, including leak detection problems, at the Fort Lewis Logistics Center which is within one mile of Sequalitchew Springs, one of several drinking-water sources on or near the Fort.

According to Chuck Findley, Acting EPA Regional Administrator in Seattle, today’s enforcement action at Ft. Lewis should send a clear message that EPA is serious in its commitment to preventing the often irrevocable contamination of aquifers that many families depend on for drinking water.

“Anyone who lives on or near a U.S. Army base should expect the same environmental safeguards that everyone else enjoys,” said EPA’s Findley. “Many of the violations at Ft. Lewis involved inoperative or malfunctioning leak detection equipment. Base personnel have had 10 years to upgrade their facilities and know that leak detection is our first line of defense in protecting the purity of our groundwater and safeguarding the public from potentially dangerous leaks of gasoline.”

Today’s complaint and order requires Fort Lewis to bring its USTs into compliance with the State of Washington’s EPA-approved UST regulations. The complaint also assesses a penalty to encourage timely resolution of the violations, to support fair and equitable treatment of the regulated community and to deter Federal agencies and others from future violations. The 1999 Fort Lewis inspection was part of a national Federal facilities UST inspection initiative to determine whether Federal facilities are complying with UST requirements.

“We hold the Army to the same standards as everyone else,” said Tim Hamlin, manager of EPA’s Groundwater Protection Unit. “That’s what today’s action is intended to do. It’s really a matter of equal treatment under our laws.”

Today’s complaint and proposed penalty is the second action by the EPA’s Office of Water against Fort Lewis this year. In May, the Army agreed to upgrade its wastewater facilties which were dumping oil and grease-laden wastewater into Puget Sound.

The Army now has 30 days to respond to the complaint and request a settlement conference. The compliance order is effective immediately.