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Idaho Transportation Department, Contractor Charged with Polluting Mica Creek

Release Date: 5/9/2002
Contact Information: Bub Loiselle
loiselle.bub@epamail.epa.gov
(206) 553-6901

The Environmental Protection Agency today ordered the Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) and its contractor, Scarsella Brothers, Inc., to immediately stop polluting Mica Creek with sediment from a six-mile long road project on U.S. Highway 95 between Bellgrove and Mica Creeks.

Mica Creek drains into Lake Coeur d = Alene, where property owners and boat owners have complained that the sediment has accumulated around local boat launches to such a degree that they are no longer useable. Bull trout in the area could also be affected by the heavy discharges. On March 15, the level of turbidity, or opaqueness, in Mica Creek was dozens of times the allowable levels under state law.

The federal Clean Water Act requires storm water run-off from construction sites to be carefully controlled. Sediments in run-off can severely impact local waterways and can result in fish kills. The ITD and Scarsella Brothers, Inc. have not fixed the run-off problems at the site, even though they are familiar with the state and federal requirements for preventing excess run-off.

"In my nearly 30 years at the EPA, I've never before seen violations this flagrant," said Bub Loiselle, Manager of EPA's Water Quality Compliance Unit. "The real topper here is that ITD has been penalized for committing serious water quality violations before. ITD needs to get its act together."

In 1995, the ITD was sued by a citizens group and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for dumping sediments into wetlands near Sand Creek. The ITD agreed to pay $200,000 for environmental improvements as a result of the lawsuit.

The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality recently issued notices of violation to the ITD and Scarsella Brothers, Inc. for violations of state water quality standards. The EPA and the IDEQ are working together to get the ITD and Scarsella Brothers, Inc. to comply with water quality laws.

Failure to comply with today's order could result in penalties of up to $27,500 per day per violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Today's order by the EPA does not preclude the agency from taking additional actions against the ITD and/or Scarsella Brothers, Inc.