N A T U R E O F T H E C A S E FERRO'S GRANT CHEM DIV. OPERATES A CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING AND BLENDING FACILITY IN BATON ROUGE. THE CO'S WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY HAS AN NPDES PERMIT (# LA0004057) WHICH WAS ISSUED BY EPA IN 1978 AND IS CURRENTLY UNDER ADMIN EXTENSION. DMR'S SUBMITTED BY GRANT, AS WELL AS INSPECTIONS BY STATE AND EPA INSPECTORS, INDICATE THAT THE CO HAS BEEN IN VIOLATION OF ONE EFFLUENT LIMIT OR ANOTHER ON VIRTUALLY A CONTINUOUS BASIS SINCE 1979. PARAMETER LIMITS FOR TSS, BOD, PH, COD, OIL & GREASE, AND MERCURY HAVE BEEN EXCEEDED ROUTINELY. ADMIN ORDERS WERE ISSUED BY REGION VI IN 1979 AND 1980. THESE ORDERS LISTED A SERIES OF VIOLATIONS OF PERMIT REQUIREMENTS BY GRANT. LAB CALIBRATION EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE RECORDS, AND QUALITY ASSURANCE RECORDS WERE NOT BEING MAINTAINED. DUPLICATE AND ROUTINE SAMPLES WERE NOT ANALYZED AND DMRS WERE IMPROPERLY COMPUTED AND RECORDED. THE ORDERS GENERALLY DIRECTED THE CO TO CORRECT THE CAUSES OF DISCHARGE VIOLATIONS, AND SPECIFICALLY TO CORRECT A BREAKDOWN IN THE SYSTEM WHEREBY DISCHARGE POINTS AT VARIANCE WITH THOSE CONTAINED IN THE PERMIT OCCURRED ALONG WITH BYPASSING AT TIMES OF HEAVY RAIN. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, GRANT IMPLEMENTED ITS OWN PROPOSALS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS AT THE PLANT; HOWEVER, THE ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN EACH TIME FAILED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS, EVEN THOUGH THEY APPEARED TO BE REASONABLE SOLUTIONS WHEN ORIGINALLY SUGGESTE