OCTOBER 6, 2025 - ADMINISTRATIVE COMPLIANCE ORDER ON CONSENT
On November 28, 2023, the EPA, in conjunction on with ADEM, performed a stormwater Compliance Evaluation Inspection (CEI) at the Facility to evaluate Respondent's compliance with the requirements of Section 301 of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1311, the regulations promulgated thereunder at 40 C.F.R. ? 122.26, and the AL Permit.
Based on the CEI, and due to the hydrology of the Facility and historic rainfall data, the EPA has determined that from the time industrial operations at the Facility began to present, stormwater associated with industrial activity generally discharged from the Facility to a relatively permanent, perennial Unnamed Tributary of Valley Creek. In the EPA Supplemental Guidance to the 1995 Clean Water Act Settlement Policy for Violations of the Industrial Stormwater Requirement, 0.5 inches during a 24-hour period is used as the general benchmark for likely stormwater runoff to result in a discharge. During the period from October 2019 through September 2024, 57 out of the 60 months experienced at least one rainfall event exceeding 0.5-inch of precipitation according to historical weather data from NOAA's Birmingham weather station.
Valley Creek is a relatively permanent, perennial tributary of the Black Warrior River. The Black Warrior River is a traditionally navigable water of the United States, as defined by Section 502(7) of the CWA, 33 U.S.C. ? 1362(7), and its implementing regulation, 40