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US EPA orders Seven-Up to comply with storm water discharge requirements

Release Date: 12/17/2003
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 452-3378

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is ordering the Seven-Up/RC Bottling Company of Southern California, Inc. to immediately comply with the federal Clean Water Act and seek stormwater permits from California, which administers the Clean Water Act permit program in the state.

According to EPA records, stormwater polluted by industrial materials such as fuel and battery acid runs off from the Seven-Up distribution facility on 1300 West Taft Avenue in Orange, Calif. into storm drains and the nearby Santa Ana River.

The facility, which maintains a truck fleet, fuels and washes the trucks and stores wastes in areas that are exposed to the elements.

"Companies need to do their part to protect our waterways from industrial runoff, especially in Southern California where we have a number of ecologically fragile streams," said Alexis Strauss, director of the EPA's Water Division in its San Francisco headquarters. "We trust that Seven-Up will perform responsibly and comply with the Clean Water Act."

The EPA is ordering Seven-Up to:

• minimize and prevent the discharge of pollutants into the Santa Ana River or any other body of water;

• perform a daily inspection of industrial activity areas; and

• complete specific clean-up tasks and seek storm water permit coverage.

This is EPA's second order to Seven-Up this year. In July, the EPA cited Seven-Up for violating the Clean Water Act and the state stormwater discharge permit requirements at its Vernon, Calif. bottling plant. Failure to comply with the EPA order could make Seven-Up liable for civil penalties of up to $27,500 per day per violation.