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US EPA orders gravel mine to comply with Clean Water Act

Release Date: 3/30/2004
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, U.S. EPA,(213) 452-3378

     LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered Wayne J. Sand   and Gravel to comply with the federal Clean Water Act over stormwater discharge violations at   its industrial sand and gravel mine operation near Moorpark, Calif.

      Federal and state regulations require that sand and gravel operations have pollution control devices (such as settling basins) in place to prevent water contamination.  However, during inspections conducted over the past two years at the gravel mine on Grimes Canyon Road, EPA and state inspectors found evidence of discharges of oil, fuel and sediment to a nearby drainage.

       During the past two years, state regulators have issued numerous Clean Water Act citations to Wayne J Sand and Gravel for inadequately contained fuel storage facilities, discharge of truck wash water into a nearby drainage, uncontrolled runoff from mine and automotive parts storage areas, and an inadequate plan to control pollution from other areas of the site.

       "Runoff  from industrial operations can be a significant cause of water pollution.  This poses a very serious problem in Southern California, where the regional water board and the EPA are striving to restore polluted waters," said Alexis Strauss, director of the Water division in the EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional office in San Francisco.

       The EPA order requires Wayne J. Sand and Gravel to comply with the Clean Water Act, and take needed actions at the site.  In addition, the mine must develop a work plan to prevent future problems at the site.  Failure to comply with this order could make the company liable for civil penalties by the EPA of $32,500 per day.

  For more information on U.S. EPA stormwater regulations for industrial sites, visit:
  https://www.epa.gov/ebtpages/watestormindustrialstormwater.html