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CSPA settles suit vs. Waste Management, Alameda County, requires
compliance, monitoring, and mitigation
February 14, 2009 -- CSPA has settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against
Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc., regarding serious violations of
the California General Industrial Stormwater Permit at the Davis Street
Transfer Station, a transfer station for municipal and solid waste in San
Leandro, California.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court
on 21 July 2008 alleging that the Davis Street Transfer Station illegally
discharged excessive concentrations of total suspended solids, chemical
oxygen demand, oil & grease, aluminum, copper, iron, zinc, lead and
electrical conductance to San Francisco Bay in violation of their
stormwater permit and the Clean Water Act. The facility also failed
to develop, implement and update: 1) Best Available and Best Conventional
Treatment Technologies; 2) an adequate Stormwater Pollution Prevention
Plan (SWPPP); and 3) an adequate monitoring and reporting plan. It
also accused the operators of falsely certifying compliance in their
annual reports.
The Settlement Agreement has been submitted to the
court as an enforceable Consent Decree and to the U.S. Department of
Justice for review. It obligates Waste Management to: 1) comply
fully with the applicable requirements of the General Permit and Clean
Water Act; 2) implement a suite of Best Management and Housekeeping
Practices; 3) develop and implement a number of structural improvements,
including treatment facilities designed to treat a 15 year, 24-hour storm
event; 4) conduct more frequent, comprehensive monitoring during rain
events, and 5) prepare an adequate SWPPP. The agreement incorporates
“Meet & Confer” provisions that allow CSPA to return to court for
enforcement if pollutant benchmarks continue to be exceeded and the
parties cannot agree on additional measures to be implemented.
As
mitigation for past violations, Waste Management agreed to send $50,000 to
the Rose Foundation for a Better Environment to fund environmental
projects that will improve water quality. They also agreed to pay
CSPA’s costs of bringing the lawsuit plus funds to oversee implementation
of the agreement.
CSPA vs. Waste Management
settlement
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