Pennsylvania Coke Manufacturer Settles with EPA

Shenango Inc., a Pennsylvania coke manufacturer, has settled alleged air and water pollution violations with EPA, state and local environmental agencies.  The consent decree requires the company to pay $1.75 million in civil penalties and to make significant upgrades to the plant, which is located approximately five miles north of downtown Pittsburgh.

According to EPA, the facility had a history of non-compliance with federal, state and county environmental and public health regulations.  Federal consent orders entered into with previous owners in 1980, 1993 and 2000 required the facility to come into compliance, but violations continued.  DTE Energy Services purchased the facility in 2008.  Gary Gross, DTE vice president, said "When we acquired the facility, we were well aware of its history. We would not have proceeded with the purchase unless we had confidence that we could dramatically improve performance and establish Shenango as a good neighbor and a valuable asset to the community."  In the first seven months of 2011, Shenango had 114 air quality violations and paid a $114,000 fine to the health department

As part of the settlement, the company must take actions to reduce visible particular emissions to meet Clean Air Act standards by making repairs to the plant's coke ovens.  The company also has to bring the plant into compliance with the Clean Water Act by building a new wastewater treatment plant, upgrading its current treatment processes, and constructing a coal pile runoff management system.

The civil penalties include $1.25 million to be divided equally between the United States and Allegheny County for the facility's Clean Air Act violations, as well as $500,000 in Clean Water Act penalties to be divided between the United States and Pennsylvania.  As with all environmental consent decrees, it is subject to federal court approval following a 30-day public comment period.

The Shenango coke facility opened in 1962, employs about 150 workers and operates one coke oven battery with 56 ovens that produce approximately 380,000 tons of metallurgical coke a year.

Read more at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here.

Shenango coke plant, Neville Island, PA.

EPA Drops Rule Requiring CAFO Reporting

EPA has apparently decided to drop its proposed CAFO reporting rule.  The rule, which was published last October, required concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) to report to EPA the overall size of the farm and the total available wastewater/sludge application area for disposing of the CAFO's wastewater.  The proposed rule was the result of a settlement agreement between EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Waterkeeper Alliance, and the Sierra Club.  However, the settlement only required EPA to propose the rule, not to adopt it.

EPA's website indicates that it still intends to collect the information, but from other sources.  Many commenters to the proposed rule had pointed out that EPA could get the information elsewhere -- like state NPDES programs -- instead of duplicating efforts and creating extra work for the regulated community.

CAFO wastewater lagoon.

$1M in Fines for Clean Water Act violations in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska

Mid-America Pipeline Company LLC (MAPCO) and Enterprise Products Operating LLC of Houston have agreed today to pay a civil penalty of more than $1 million to the U.S. to settle violations of the federal Clean Water Act related to three natural gas pipeline spills in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.  As part of a consent decree, in addition to paying the $1,042,000 civil penalty, the companies have also agreed to undertake various measures aimed at reducing external threats to their pipeline, enhance their reporting of spills, and spend at least $200,000 to identify and prevent external threats to the pipeline involved in the spills.  The companies will have to spend $200,000 to relocate, cover, lower or replace pipeline segments; install new remote shutoff valves; install new physical protections, such as fences or concrete barriers; and install other new equipment, structures or systems to prevent spills from reaching navigable waters.

Three spills had occurred along MAPCO's West Red Pipeline (operated by Enterprise).  In March 2007, a rupture near Yutan, Nebraska, caused the discharge of approximately 1,669 barrels of natural gasoline directly into an unnamed ditch and Otoe Creek.  In April 2010, a rupture near Niles, Kansas, caused the discharge of approximately 1,760 barrels of natural gas directly into an unnamed ditch, Cole Creek, Buckeye Creek and the Solomon River. And in August 2011, a rupture near Onawa, Iowa, caused the discharge of approximately 818 barrels of natural gas directly into the Missouri River.

Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Dumping for Filling Wetlands in New York

Filling wetlands and lying to government agents are both potential criminal offenses.  Julius DeSimone of New York found that out the hard way.

DeSimone pleaded guilty today in federal court in New York for conspiring to fill wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act and to lying to federal agents in an attempt to conceal his crimes.  According to the charges, DeSimone and his co-conspirators engaged in a multi-year scheme to illegally dump 8,100 tons of pulverized construction and demolition debris that was processed at New York and New Jersey solid waste management facilities and then transported to a farmer's property for disposal.

The defendants concealed the illegal dumping by fabricating a New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) permit and forging the name of a DEC official on the fraudulent permit.  DeSimone admitted in the plea agreement that once DEC and the EPA learned of the illegal dumping, he lied to federal agents.

DeSimone faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each felony count, and may be ordered to pay for portions of the cleanup at the site.

Partial Deepwater Horizon Settlement Reached with MOEX

MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC has agreed to settle its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a settlement with the United States valued at $90 million, amking it the largest settlement ever reached under the Clean Water Act.  Approximately $45 million of the settlement is going directly to the Gulf in the form of penalties or expedited environmental projects.

MOEX will pay $70 million in civil penalties under the Clean Water Act, and agreed to spend an additional $20 million to facilitate land acquisition projects in several Gulf states that will preserve and protect habitat and resources important to water quality and other environmental features of the Gulf of Mexico region.  At the time of the spill, MOEX was a minority investor in the lease for the Macondo well.  It no longer owns any share of the lease.

Of the $70 million in penalties, $45 million will go to the United States to replenish the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, where it will be available to pay for response actions, cleanup and damages caused by future spills.  The remaining penalty will go to Gulf states participating in the settlement ($6.75 million to Louisiana; $5 million each to Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi; and $3.25 million to Texas).

NC Hog Farm and President Sentenced to Pay $1.5M for Clean Water Act Violations

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Freedman Farms was sentenced today in federal court to five years probation and ordered to pay $1.5 million in fines, restitution and community service payments for violating the Clean Water Act when they discharged hog waste into a stream that leads to the Waccamaw River.

The company's president was sentenced to six months in prison to be followed by six months of home confinement for his role in the violations.

According to evidence presented at trial, Freedman Farms discharged hog waste into a tributary of the Waccamaw River that flows through the White Marsh, a wetlands complex.  The farm had approximately 4,800 hogs.  The hog waste was supposed to be directed to two lagoons for treatment and disposal.  Instead, in December 2007, hog waste was discharged from the farm directly into the tributary.

We've been involved in CAFO cases, Clean Water Act cases, and potential criminal cases like this one many times.  Intentional discharges are no laughing matter, and can lead to jail time.

Indiana Wastewater Treatment Operator and Managers Charged with Conspiracy and Violating the Clean Water Act

United Water Services Inc. (UWS), the former contract operator of the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in Gary, Ind., and two of its employees, were charged today with conspiracy and felony violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in a 26-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury, the Justice Department announced today.

UWS and employees Dwain L. Bowie, and Gregory A. Ciaccio, have been charged with manipulating daily wastewater sampling methods by turning up disinfectant treatment levels shortly before sampling, then turning them down shortly after sampling.

UWS entered into a 10-year contract to operate the Gary Sanitary District wastewater treatment works in 1998, in exchange for $9 million annually. UWS’s contract was renewed in May 2008. As contract operator, UWS handled the operation and maintenance of the treatment works, and was responsible for environmental compliance. To ensure compliance with the discharge permit, UWS was required to take periodic representative wastewater samples, including a daily sample to determine the concentration of E. coli bacteria in the wastewater.

According to the indictment, the defendants conspired to tamper with E. coli monitoring methods by turning up levels of disinfectant dosing prior to E. coli sampling. The indictment states that the defendants would avoid taking E. coli samples until disinfectants had reached elevated levels, which in turn were expected to lead to reduced E. coli levels. Immediately after sampling, the indictment alleges, the defendants turned down disinfectant levels, thus reducing the amount of treatment chemicals they used.

Dwain Bowie was UWS’s Project Manager for the Gary facility beginning in 2002, and was in charge of the Gary operation. Gregory Ciaccio joined Bowie’s staff in July 2003, and eventually was made the Plant Superintendent, in charge of day-to-day operations.

The CWA makes it a felony to tamper with required monitoring methods at a permitted facility like the Gary Sanitary District. If convicted, Bowie and Ciaccio face up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count and two years on each of the CWA counts, as well as a criminal fine of up to $250,000 for each count. The company may also face fines and/or probation.

The allegations in the indictment are mere accusations and all persons are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case was investigated by the Northern District of Indiana Environmental Crimes Task Force, including agents from the Criminal Investigation Division of the U.S.E.PA., the FBI and the Indiana State Police. The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Indiana and the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

Discharges of Sediment from Construction Site in Virginia Lead to Penalties

We routinely deal with situations where development projects result in discharges of sediment onto surrounding properties and into nearby water bodies. U.S. EPA recently settled a similar case in Lynchburg, Virginia.

Last month, five defendants involved in the construction of a housing development agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty and fund more than $1 million in stream and wetlands restoration projects for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act. The settlement agreement resolved allegations that the defendants discharged and/or controlled and directed the discharge of pollutants including dredged or fill material, sediment, and other pollutants carried by stormwater into waters of the United States during the construction of a housing development without the required permits, and then in violation of their NPDES stormwater permit after one was obtained.

The current owner of the property, which was not a defendant in the enforcement action, agreed to implement approximately $250,000 in on-site restoration work, which will be funded by the defendants. The defendants will also pay approximately $825,000 to purchase credits to fund stream and wetland restoration projects in the region.

The alleged Clean Water Act violations at the site occurred from July 2001 through January 2003 when the defendants cleared and graded the site, installed roads and utilities, and completed or partially built several housing units. In the process, the defendants allegedly destroyed approximately 3,765 feet of stream, along with wetlands at the headwaters of tributaries to the Roanoke and James Rivers. Silt and sediment from the construction activities were also discharged into streams on and off the site and flowed downstream to Pine Lake and beyond. U.S. EPA claimed that these waters are important for flood control, nutrient and sediment retention, filtration, water quality improvement and maintenance of healthy aquatic ecological communities for other water bodies down stream. As the result of defendants’ actions, EPA said, water now flows downstream faster and at a higher temperature, killing or stressing aquatic animals and plants.

The site restoration plan requires restoration of one stream, restoration and enhancement of four ponds, installation of plantings, and eradication of invasive species in certain areas. The settlement agreement also prohibits future disturbances of the restoration project area.

Conviction for Discharging Bleach into Sewer System

Many people don't realize that discharges of certain chemicals into public sewer systems violates the federal Clean Water Act. Our firm represents a number of wastewater treatment plants here in Alabama, so we see firsthand the effects of illegal discharges into sewer systems.

Last month, KIK (Virginia) LLC pleaded guilty in federal court in Virginia and agreed to pay a $75,000 criminal fine plus $25,000 in community service payments for negligent discharges of bleach to the local sanitary sewer system, which is a misdemeanor violation of the federal Clean Water Act. In addition to the criminal fine and community service payment, KIK has agreed to serve one year of probation, during which it will continue to develop and implement an environmental management system that it began developing during the investigation. It also will complete an environmental audit conducted by an independent auditor.

KIK operated a facility that manufactured bleach and other household products. In September 2003, local authorities discovered elevated concentrations of bleach in the sanitary sewer lines servicing the facility. An investigation revealed that, at that time and for a number of years before, under previous owners, employees at the plant washed bleach that had been spilled in the production and bottling process and off-specification bleach into the plant’s floor drains. The floor drains channeled the bleach into the plant’s drainage system, which lead to the city's sanitary sewer system. The plant did not have a permit to discharge bleach to the sewer system and did not monitor its discharges.

The Clean Water Act prohibits discharges into a sewer system of any pollutants that the discharger knows (or should know) could cause property damage. Bleach is a corrosive chemical that, in sufficient concentration, may damage metal and other materials used in the sewer system and is considered a pollutant under the Clean Water Act. Other substances which could cause problems if dumped into the local sewer system include oil and grease, ammonia, pesticides, cleaning products, and medications, to name just a few.