Construction Cited for Violating Clean Water Act

An inspector for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Region 10 office recently discovered that operators (owners and contractors) at seven Pocatello, Idaho area construction sites violated the federal Clean Water Act rules that protect lakes and streams from construction site runoff.

The violations were found during a recent round of inspections. In response, the EPA sent expedited settlement offers to both owners and contractors at the seven sites, with penalties reportedly ranging from $1,500 to $10,125, according to a press release.

The EPA has authority to quickly settle the storm water cases under the new Expedited Settlement Offer Policy, which allows reduced penalties at construction sites that are smaller than 50 acres and where the operators are first-time violators and where sediment has not been discharged to nearby waterways.

Source: Idaho State Journal