All News Releases By Date

EPA Brings Enforcement Actions Against Five New England Marina and Boatyard Facilities

Release Date: 07/26/2006
Contact Information: Sheryl Rosner, (617) 918-1865

(Boston, Mass. - July 26, 2006) – EPA is announcing five recent enforcement actions against marina and boatyard facilities in New England for environmental violations. The actions include the filing of a recent administrative complaint against a R.I. marina and boatyard and four settlements with facilities in Rhode Island and Connecticut. The actions come after EPA New England promoted a five-year initiative that focused on assistance to the marina sector on compliance and pollution prevention techniques.

“For years EPA New England has recognized that the boatyard and marina sectors play an important role in maintaining the health of our coastal waters and beaches, so we went out and worked with many in the marina industry – teaching best management practices and proper pollution prevention techniques,” stated Robert W. Varney, EPA New England’s regional administrator. “It is now time to check in and see how this sector is doing – and when we did, we found that some facilities are still falling short, despite our targeted compliance assistance efforts, and EPA’s commitment to continue this work.”

The recent enforcement actions involve the following:

- EPA filed an Administrative Complaint seeking penalties against Conanicut Marine Services (CMS), which operates five marine-related facilities in Jamestown, R.I. CMS facilities include a marina, boat repair and maintenance yards, and a paint and glass shop. EPA based its claims on information that it found during three inspections over three years, where the Agency found that the facility: failed to make adequate hazardous waste determinations and properly maintain and operate one of its facilities in a way that minimizes the possibility of a release of hazardous wastes; failed to have an adequate hazardous waste training program; transported hazardous waste without a permit; and discharged storm water without a permit. EPA samples around the paint and glass shop also showed elevated levels of barium, chromium and cadmium as well as hazardous levels of lead. The Complaint did not specify a penalty amount, but cited EPA’s authority to penalize CMS up to the statutory maximum allowed under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) (up to $32,500 per day for each RCRA violation and a maximum penalty of $157,500 for the CWA violations).