U.S. EPA Orders New England Companies to Address Discharges of Turbid Storm Water

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it ordered housing developer Bailin & Associates Inc. of Worcester, Mass., to take steps to stop discharging silt-laden storm water into nearby waters. According to an order issued in September by EPA’s New England office, Bailin and its general contractor Rotti Construction Inc. of West Boylston, Mass., violated requirements of the Clean Water Act for turbid storm water discharges, which resulted in silt traveling from the construction site into a wetland, stream and nearby ponds.

Bailin and Rotti, which have been constructing the 79-acre residential subdivision since 2003, were required to apply for a permit to discharge storm water under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program. Bailin received a NPDES permit in 2008 but failed to properly install and maintain the site, allowing silt-laden storm water to seep into nearby waters. EPA alleges that Bailin failed to maintain silt fences at the discharge point, and did not have its storm water pollution prevention plan at the site or readily accessible as required by the permit. According to EPA’s order, Rotti violated the Clean Water Act by discharging storm water from the construction site without a permit and failing to apply for authorization to discharge storm water under the permit.

This is the second time EPA has taken an enforcement action against Bailin. EPA sued Bailin in 2008 for discharging without a permit and then failing to comply with the permit, once it obtained coverage. Bailin paid a penalty to resolve the case in March 2009, but EPA said it has continued to violate the permit by periodically allowing silt-laden storm water to escape from its construction site.

According to the order, Bailin must fully comply with the permit. The order also requires Rotti to obtain and comply with a permit.

Source: U.S. EPA