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Twin Falls Construction Sites Fail to Meet Federal Storm Water Requirements

Release Date: 10/24/2007
Contact Information: Kristine Karlson, (206)-553-0290, karlson.kristine@epa.gov or Tony Brown, (206)-553-1203, brown.anthony@epa.gov

(Twin Falls, Idaho – Oct. 24, 2007) This past May, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 10 conducted a series of storm water inspections at construction sites around Twin Falls, Idaho. EPA inspectors observed violations at most construction sites, including failure to apply for coverage under the national storm water Construction General Permit (CGP); failure to design and install erosion and sediment controls; and failure to inspect and maintain the controls.

This was the fourth year in a multi-year enforcement initiative. The inspections were conducted at both residential and commercial construction sites, to evaluate their compliance with the CGP. The permit requires operators of construction sites to design install and maintain storm water controls in order to protect waterways from common construction site pollutants such as sediment, oil and grease, and concrete washout.

“After six years of outreach and inspections in Idaho, we were disappointed to see so many violations,” said Kim Ogle, EPA's Region 10, Compliance Unit Manager. “Complying with the permit helps to ensure that Idaho’s streams remain healthy.”

The violations were settled using the Agency’s Construction Storm Water Expedited Settlement Offer (ESO) Policy, which allows EPA to employ a streamlined enforcement process, with lower fines, for operators who are first-time violators and where no environmental harm was yet observed.

The inspections resulted in ESOs at the following six sites, with penalties ranging from $4,000 to $14,850:

Construction Site	Penalty	Operators
JayCo West Expansion	$4,000	Starr Corp. JayCo, Inc.
Orchard Park/Swenson’s Market	$4,000	Gordon Paving Company, Inc. Force Engineering, LLP
Horizon Crest Estates	$4,700	Greenridge Development, LLC Idaho Sand & Gravel Co.
Benno Point Subdivision	$6,850	Gary’s Westland LLC McCoy Construction
Kimberly Heights Subdivision	$7,100	Crossroads United Methodist McCoy Construction
Pheasant Meadows Subdivision	$14,850	R & J Development, Inc. Blue Rock Group, Inc.

For more information about EPA’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Construction Storm Water General Permit program, visit: https://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/index.cfm