EPA reaches settlement with Shine Bros. to resolve stormwater violations

Scrap metal company agrees to clean up site, pay $120,000 penalty.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 7, has announced that it has reached an administrative settlement with the scrap metal company Shine Bros. Corp., which resolves industrial stormwater violations under the Clean Water Act at Shine Bros.’ Spencer, Iowa, facility. Under the settlement, Shine Bros. will come into compliance with its industrial stormwater permit, pay a civil penalty of $120,000, and remediate contamination that migrated from its facility to an adjacent public park.

An investigation of the scrap metal yard began after the EPA and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources received complaints from local residents in regard to water runoff at the plant. The two agencies undertook investigations that found that Shine Bros.' stormwater structural controls and best management practices were ineffective in controlling pollutants in the stormwater. The investigation did find that stormwater carried pollutants from the scrap yard to adjacent tributaries, where it eventually entered the city of Spencer’s storm sewer system to the Little Sioux River, the EPA says.

According to the EPA, the investigation also found that Shine Bros. failed to properly conduct periodic stormwater inspections or provide appropriate employee training, in violation of the company’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

To resolve the violations, Shine Bros. has agreed to update and fully implement its Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan and move many of its operations to enclosed structures to greatly reduce the potential for pollutants to be exposed to stormwater. The company also says it will improve best management practices and upgrade its stormwater structural controls.

Shine Bros. agreed to pay a civil penalty of $120,000 and remove pollutants from the park and around the banks of Pete’s Pond that were contaminated by the company’s stormwater runoff. In the spring, Shine Bros. Corp. will revisit the park to perform any additional needed cleanup and establish an appropriate groundcover, the EPA reports.

“The resolution of this action highlights the need for industrial facilities to control pollutants in their stormwater,” says Karl Brooks, EPA regional administrator. “The Clean Water Act and industrial stormwater permits require common sense pollution prevention actions, including employee training, routine inspections, constructing and maintaining structural controls and using best management practices.”

The settlement agreement is subject to a 40-day public comment period before it becomes final.



 
 

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