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Anchorage Waste Water Utility and Contractor Pay $9850 EPA Storm Water Penalty

Release Date: 03/23/2010
Contact Information: Chris Gebhardt, EPA/Seattle 206-553- 0253, gebhardt.chris@epa.gov, Mark MacIntyre, EPA/Seattle (206) 553-7302 macintyre.mark@epa.gov

(Seattle, Washington – March 22, 2010) Construction site operators at Pump Station 10 in Anchorage, Alaska, have settled a storm water case brought by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for alleged Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. Anchorage Water and Waste Water Utility and Pruhs Construction Company settled the alleged violations by paying a fine of $9,850 and addressing deficiencies at the site.

EPA visited the site in September 2008 and August 2009 and on each occasion observed numerous violations of CWA’s Construction General Permit, including a deficient Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) and failure to install and maintain adequate erosion and sediment controls.

This action is part of a multi-year enforcement initiative to improve compliance with the Construction General Permit. The permit requires all operators of construction sites to design, install, and maintain storm water controls in order to protect surface waters from common construction site pollutants such as sediment, oil and grease, and concrete washout.

According to Kim Ogle, manager of EPA’s Discharge Permit Compliance Unit, EPA found that the operators at the Pump Station 10 site had failed to manage sediment migrating offsite.

“This is a case with clear effects,’ said EPA’s Ogle. “By failing to properly control sediments from leaving the site, the operators exposed part of nearby Hood Creek to potential sediment discharge from the storm drains along Marston Drive.”

The violations were settled using EPA’s Construction Storm Water Expedited Settlement Offer (ESO) Policy, a streamlined enforcement process, with lower fines for operators who are first-time violators and where no environmental harm was yet observed.

Since EPA’s construction site inspections last year, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has reissued the Construction General Permit, including all of the same basic requirements, under its own authority. As of November 1, the department has also assumed primary control authority over enforcement of the permit.

For more about EPA’s storm water Construction General permit, visit:
https://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=6

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