EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 6/3

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.

Your EPA Enforcement Roundup for this week:

39 parties agree to settlement for payment of cleanup costs at a Superfund site in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

39 parties—36 private, 3 government—will pay a total of $7,362,637 to the US and Missouri for past and future costs to clean up a contaminated site.

From 1953 to 1992, electric motors, transformers, and equipment controls were sold, serviced, and remanufactured at the 6.4-acre site. The company processed electrical equipment that was filled with oil containing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for most of that time. The site was designated as a Superfund site in 1990. EPA has overseen cleanup and investigation at the site since the 1980s.

A sawmill in Idaho settles with EPA to resolve alleged stormwater violations along the St. Joe River.

US EPA claims the facility was acting out of compliance with its Clean Water Act permits, including failures to:

• Implement corrective actions following continued benchmark exceedances.
• Implement adequate stormwater pollution prevent plan controls.

The facility will pay a $225,000 civil penalty, come into compliance with its Clean Water Act permits, and perform mitigation actions that will protect local shoreline and increase fish habitability to resolve the allegations.

A national railroad’s site faces $389,750 in penalties for alleged hazardous waste violations in New Mexico.

New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) officials allegedly observed seven hazardous waste violations when inspecting a railroad terminal near the US-Mexico border. Per NMED, violated rules related to used oil, exceeding storage time limits, and failure to:

• Provide hazardous waste management training for appropriate personnel.
• Obtain an EPA Identification Number for the storage of hazardous waste.
• Perform weekly inspections of hazardous waste storage areas.
• Pay hazardous waste fees on time.

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Tags: EPA Enforcement Roundup, Superfund