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Orders Issued to Missouri Department of Transportation for Construction Stormwater Violations in Camden, Wayne Counties

Release Date: 09/02/2010
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov


Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Sept. 2, 2010) - EPA Region 7 has issued a pair of administrative orders to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), citing multiple violations of stormwater permits that were issued for state construction projects along U.S. Highway 54 Expressway in Camden County, and U.S. Highway 67 in Wayne County.

EPA’s orders, filed today in Kansas City, Kan., direct MoDOT to comply immediately with the terms of the respective permits for the two highway construction projects, which were issued to MoDOT by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) under the authority of the federal Clean Water Act.

“Stormwater runoff from construction sites can harm the environment in several ways,” EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. “Sediment from construction runoff negatively impacts water quality. It results in greater cloudiness of water bodies, and decreases their oxygen content, which results in loss of habitat for fish and other aquatic life. It can also result in fish kills, and reduced growth of beneficial aquatic plant life.”

EPA performed an inspection of MoDOT’s construction site along U.S. Highway 54 Expressway in Camden County, situated between the Grand Glaize Bridge and El Terra Road, in May 2010. The inspection found that MoDOT failed to install and maintain adequate best management practices for stormwater control; failed to develop, implement and update an adequate Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) for the site; failed to comply with narrative water quality standards; and failed to perform and document inspections of the site. Those failures, according to EPA’s order, resulted in discharges of sediment to the Lake of the Ozarks.

In Wayne County, EPA inspected MoDOT’s construction site along U.S. Highway 67 between the towns of Coldwater and Silva, in late June and early July 2010. That inspection found violations of MoDOT’s stormwater permit that were similar to those noted during the Camden County inspection. MoDOT’s failures, as cited in the order, resulted in discharges of sediment to Cedar Creek, Wilmore Creek, Hunter Creek, Bennett Creek, Hubble Creek, Frazier Creek, and a number of unnamed tributaries.

In separate but related action, EPA is evaluating all of the circumstances surrounding the stormwater permit violations, and could seek civil monetary penalties from MoDOT if the Agency determines that to be an appropriate enforcement step. Previously, EPA brought civil enforcement actions against MoDOT for similar construction stormwater issues in 2005 and 2008, resulting in civil penalties against the department of $25,750 and $76,387, respectively.