Calif., Construction Company to Pay $170,000 following Illegal Dumping to Federally Protected Wetlands during Strip Mall Construction

For Immediate Release: May 31, 2012

Media Contact:  Mary Simms, simms.mary@epa.gov

Calif., Construction Company to Pay $170,000 following Illegal Dumping to Federally Protected Wetlands during Strip Mall Construction
Company Will Spend an Additional $150,000 to Repair, Restore Nine Acres of Wetlands critical to
California's North Coast salmon populations

SAN FRANCISCO – Humboldt County contractor Dennis Wendt of Wendt Construction today resolves a federal lawsuit with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice following the construction company’s unpermitted dumping of the equivalent of 200 large dump truck loads of material into federally protected wetlands crucial to neighboring salmon populations.

The wetlands are associated with Strongs Creek, which flows approximately 1.3 miles west to the Eel River, a priority resource for maintaining cold, freshwater habitat for salmon and steelhead. The Lower Eel River is considered impaired under the Clean Water Act due to excessive sediment loads, low dissolved oxygen and high temperatures that exceed water quality standards.
“Salmon and steelhead populations have been hit hard on the North Coast due to the unfortunate destruction of their aquatic habitat,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This action ensures the restoration of wetland habitat along Strongs Creek, and will advance the recovery of these valuable fish species.”
The illegal fill activities took place between 2005 and 2008 at two adjacent development sites, the Strongs Creek Plaza Site and the East Littlefield Property and impacted a total of 4.18 acres of wetlands. Wendt Construction will pay a $170,000 penalty for dumping fill material into wetlands connected to Strongs Creek, a tributary to the Eel River located in the City of Fortuna.
As part of the settlement, the company will undertake a multi-year project to restore the damaged wetlands, including the creation of vegetated pond that will support wildlife while filtering water and recharging the groundwater aquifer. Restoration will allow the creek to perform the important ecological functions of retaining soil and nutrients, attenuating floodwaters, and providing movement corridors for wildlife and habitat for the Northern red-legged frog, which is a threatened species in California.
The federal Clean Water Act protects the nation’s coasts, rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands, which are vital to the protection of human health and the environment. Section 404 of the CWA requires anyone who proposes to fill and alter protected waterways, including wetlands, to first obtain permit authorization from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The proposed consent decree for the settlement, lodged with the federal district court on May 30, 2012, is subject to a 30-day comment period and final court approval. A copy of the proposed decree is available on the Justice Department website at: http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html
For more information about the Clean Water Act Section 404 regulatory program, visit: http://www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/pdf/reg_authority_pr.pdf
Photos of the site along with a map of the Eel River Watershed will be made available later today at: http://www.epa.gov/region9/press_media/wendt/photos.html

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EPA Issues New Construction Stormwater General Permit

News release from EPA:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 16, 2012

EPA Issues Permit for Stormwater Discharges from Construction Sites

New permit includes more protections for waterways, shaped by important public and stakeholder feedback

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a new permit, in accordance with the Clean Water Act, that will provide streamlined permitting to thousands of construction operators, while protecting our nation’s waterways from discharges of polluted stormwater from construction sites. Stormwater discharges from construction sites can contain harmful pollutants, such as nutrients, that contaminate waters, increase drinking water treatment costs, and damage aquatic ecosystems. The new permit was shaped by important input from the public and stakeholders to ensure that it provides important protections for waterways, while also providing flexibility to operators.

The 2012 construction general permit (CGP) is required under the Clean Water Act and replaces the existing 2008 CGP, which expired on February 15, 2012. The new permit includes a number of enhanced protections for surface waters, including provisions to protect impaired and sensitive waters. Under the Clean Water Act, national pollutant discharge elimination system (NPDES) permits are typically issued for a five-year period, after which time EPA generally issues revised permits based on updated information and requirements, as is the case with today’s announcement. NPDES permits control water pollution by including limits on the amount of pollutants that can be discharged into waterways by specific sources. The permit also provides new flexibilities for operators. For example, it allows for emergency projects (e.g., restoration following a flood or other natural disaster) to begin immediately without permit authorization from EPA, while still retaining full authority for EPA to ensure that the project proceeds in an environmentally responsible manner once it has commenced. The permit also enables operators of already permitted projects flexibility where compliance with a new permit requirement is economically impracticable.  

The 2012 CGP updates include steps intended to limit erosion, minimize pollution sources, provide natural buffers or their equivalent around surface waters, and further restrict discharges to areas impaired by previous pollution discharge.

Many of the permit requirements implement new effluent limitations guidelines and new source performance standards for the construction and development industry that became effective on February 1, 2010, which include pollution control techniques to decrease erosion and sediment pollution.

The permit will be effective in areas where EPA is the permitting authority: Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Washington, D.C., and most U.S. territories and in Indian country lands.

EPA invited the public to comment on the draft permit. The agency also had a webcast to introduce owners and operators of construction sites, members of the public, and State or Tribal permitting authorities to the new requirements of the proposed CGP.

More information on the proposed construction general permit:
http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/stormwater/cgp.cfm

Construction at Sunrise Landfill

News release from EPA Region 9:

For Immediate Release: February 15, 2012

Media Contact:  Margot Perez-Sullivan, perezsullivan.margot@epa.gov 

Major operations begin on $25 million construction at Sunrise Landfill

Las Vegas Paving Company to perform work, 40 local construction workers employed

SAN FRANCISCO – Republic Services of Southern Nevada has begun large-scale construction work under oversight by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at Sunrise Landfill, a 440-acre closed municipal solid waste landfill, located three miles outside of Las Vegas city limits in Clark County.

The $25 million construction project, expected to last through 2012, was awarded to Las Vegas Paving Company and will employ 40 local construction workers.  The project stems from a 2008 Consent Decree requiring Republic, the landfill operator, to install extensive stormwater controls, an armored cover, and landfill gas monitoring system; complete and monitor a groundwater monitoring system; and develop a long-term operation and maintenance strategy. 

“EPA is requiring this work to protect a vital drinking water source for communities from Las Vegas to Phoenix,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This will prevent the release of over 17 million pounds of contaminants each year.”

Under the settlement, Republic is utilizing clean diesel technology to place 1 million cubic yards of soil and rock within the site. These efforts are especially important because diesel exhaust is linked to reduced lung capacityand asthma, and is a likely human carcinogen.

The EPA-approved remedy ensures effective control of the landfill with a durable and cost-effective landfill cover and stormwater system that address the unique geographic and climatic characteristics of Nevada’s arid desert landscape.  Since 2008, five new groundwater monitoring wells have been drilled and 41 wells completed for quarterly sampling, as well as 30 landfill gas monitoring probes installed around the perimeter of the landfill. 

An inadequate cover and stormwater system coupled with a storm in September 1998 resulted in a discharge of waste into the Las Vegas Wash and, ultimately, Lake Mead -- a primary drinking water resource for southern Nevada, including the Las Vegas metro area, as well as the Phoenix metro area and southern California. 

Sunrise Mountain Landfill is unlined and contains more than 18 million tons of waste, including municipal solid waste, medical waste, sewage sludge, hydrocarbon-contaminated soils, asbestos, and construction waste. 

The landfill was operated on behalf of the County by entities related to Republic Services of Southern Nevada from the 1950s through 1993. Following the landfill cover failure in 1998, EPA cited Republic Dumpco and the Clark County Public Works Department for violations of the Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. At that time, EPA ordered the company to implement stormwater control plan; repair the existing drainage system; upgrade the landfill cap to federal standards; control and monitor methane and groundwater; and submit a plan to maintain and monitor the site.

 For more information, visit: http://www.epa.gov/region9/waste/sunrise and http://www.epa.gov/region9/waste/features/sunrise-landfill

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