Devil's Slide Quarry Owners to Pay $50,000 for Unpermitted Discharges

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Holcim (US) Inc. have entered into a consent agreement in which Holcim will pay a $50,000 penalty for unpermitted discharges to the Weber River at the Devil’s Slide Quarry in Morgan, Utah.

“Storm water permits are designed to prevent contaminated runoff from damaging rivers and streams,” said Mike Gaydosh, EPA’s enforcement director in Denver. “EPA notes that Holcim has developed a plan and secured a permit for its Devil’s Slide Quarry that will minimize the future release of pollutants to the Weber River.”

The agreement resolves an EPA complaint alleging that runoff from the quarry entered the river without a required Clean Water Act permit from the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (UDEQ). The complaint was a follow-up to an earlier order issued by EPA.

In May 2008, EPA inspected Devil’s Slide Quarry and found evidence of a discharge to the Weber River from an impoundment built to store storm water and/or process water runoff from rain or snowmelt. At the time of the inspection, Holcim had not sought or obtained a permit from UDEQ to discharge storm water from the facility. EPA has authorized UDEQ to implement the storm water permitting program under the Clean Water Act.

In June 2009, a follow-up inspection by UDEQ found that the facility was discharging storm water and/or process water from the impoundment to the Weber River. According to EPA, pollutants entering the river would have been minimized or prevented if the quarry had implemented adequate control measures as required by a permit.

In August 2009, EPA issued an order that required Holcim to develop a plan to prevent and report any storm water discharges to the Weber River, and to apply for a UDEQ storm water permit covering discharges from the facility. UDEQ issued the facility an individual permit for its operations last week.

Source: U.S. EPA