20210218 - EXPEDITED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT AND FINAL ORDER ISSUED, ASSESSING A TOTAL PENALTY OF $40,000. RESPONDENT SHALL MAKE PAYMENT WITHIN 30 DAYS.
ALLEGED VIOLATIONS:
Section 402(p)(2)(B) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1342(p)(2)(B), and its implementing
regulations at 40 C.F.R. ? 122.26(b)(14)(vi), as referenced above, require that an industrial
facility discharging stormwater into a surface water of the United States must obtain an
NPDES permit. The EPA's industrial stormwater guidance anticipates potential discharges
from an industrial site to occur with rain events greater than 0.1 inch. In EPA?s industrial
penalty policy, 0.5 inches during a 24-hour period is used as the benchmark for likely
stormwater runoff. According to the rain data available for this area, fifty-two (52) of the
sixty (60) months during the period of February 2014 to January 2019 have had one or more
daily rain events greater than 0.5 inches. Due to the hydrology of the Facility and rainfall
data, the EPA has determined that from February 2014 to January 2019, stormwater
associated with industrial activities generally traveled towards the conveyance along the
north side and the wetland along the south side of the site. These conveyances direct runoff
west towards Kelly Branch which is approximately 0.6 miles downstream and/or Stanley
Branch which is approximately 0.3 miles south. The Kelly and Stanley Branch flow
southwest to the Ashley River approximately 12 miles downstream. Ashely