EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 8/25

The EPA Enforcement Roundup gives you insight into how and why US EPA and State partners assess penalties for environmental noncompliance.

All violations or claims discussed below are alleged only unless we say otherwise, and we withhold the names of organizations and individuals to protect their privacy.

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A multinational building materials company will pay $310,000 in penalties to resolve alleged Clean Water Act violations.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) settled with a multinational building materials company over alleged Clean Water Act violation claims at its sand and gravel mine located in Wadsworth, Nevada, on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation. The company will pay $310,000 in penalties and work to restore floodplain and habitat within the Truckee River Watershed.

EPA says it found the company violated federal law by discharging mine pit wastewater and industrial stormwater into a nearby river without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

The company will work with the local watershed council to restore the floodplain and riparian habitat in an area located southeast of Truckee, California.

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A utilities company settled with US EPA to resolve an alleged violation of the Clean Air Act and the 2020 Accidental Release Reporting Rule.

This settlement with a west coast natural gas and electric utilities company is the first time EPA has taken enforcement action and reached a settlement with a company for violations of the 2020 rule.

According to the Agency, an accidental release of natural gas from a company-owned pipeline caused a serious injury to an employee. The company allegedly failed to report the incident to the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and will pay a civil penalty of $45,273. The company has submitted a report to the CSB containing the required information about the incident.

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An air treatment solutions company faces a $1,145,795 penalty for alleged FIFRA violations.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, no one may distribute or sell pesticides not registered with US EPA, and products must not advertise benefits that have not been tested and approved by the Agency.

According to officials, the air treatment solutions company:

• Distributed or sold unregistered pesticides at least 15 times
• Distributed or sold misbranded pesticides at least 15 times
• Distributed or sold noncompliant products by importing them into the United States 126 times.
• Labeled products with false and misleading statements
• Distributed or sold misbranded devices at least 126 times
• Failed to file reports as required by FIFRA on 137 occasions

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Tags: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, FIFRA