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The TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) handed down over $600,000 in fines on August 22.
The Press Release reveals that over $120,000 was fined to INVISTA LLC for industrial violations. If you are an Industrial Facility make sure your paperwork is up to date and your plan is being implemented !!
Buddy Garcia was appointed by governor Rick Perry as the new presiding Chairman. This was his first meeting.
-Stormwater Guru
Technorati Tags: Texas, Fines, Stormwater, Buddy Garcia, Rick Perry, Invista
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buddy garcia Fines Rick Perry stormwater Texas
I often come across news and reports about the progress of stormwater programs across the country like this one in McDonough, Ga. I have, however, noticed a severe lack of data for enforcement of stormwater regulations.
Frankly, I’m growing a little bored of yet another study about how using GIS to create storm sewer maps is beneficial. Wasn’t Google Earth invented for this kind of application? Why do people keep re-inventing the wheel?
Instead, how about an enforcement study that has some data people in the field can actually use such as:
- The MS4’s cost per violation
- Average violation resolution time
- effective NOV, NOI (Notice of Inspection), and other forms
- revenue generated from fees and penalties per 1,000 people
I realize that education and monitoring are very important to this program. However, you don’t know if you are making any measurable progress without some measure of enforcement. Asking people not to pollute the storm sewers will deter the ignorant that don’t know any better but good luck getting it to deter malicious polluters.
-Stormwater Guru
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The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) , the environmental governing body for Texas, handed down over $800,000 in fines today. The Press Release is as follows:
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) today approved penalties totaling $823,480 against 71 regulated entities for violations of state environmental regulations.
Agreed orders were issued for the following enforcement categories: 17 air quality, eight dry cleaner, one Edwards Aquifer, three field citations, one industrial waste discharge, one licensed irrigator, four multi-media, three municipal solid waste, four municipal waste discharge, 17 petroleum storage tank, three public water system, one sludge, and four water quality. In addition, there were default orders issued for the following categories: one multi-media, and two petroleum storage tank. Penalties were also assessed against a regulated entity following hearings at the State Office of Administrative Hearings for one solid waste violation.
Included in the total fine figure is a penalty of $121,880 against Oxy USA of Kent County. The fines are as a result of five violations found during investigations in September and December, 2006, including failure to prevent unauthorized emissions and failure to meet reporting requirements.
-Stormwater Guru
Fines Oxy USA stormwater Texas Violation
The EPA and the Missouri DNR handed down a $590,000 penalty to a land developer in the St. Louis area for construction storm water violations.
This is the largest fine in the history of Missouri for storm water related violations.
The defendants in the case were JH Berra construction as well as several of their shell companies. This goes to show that a shell company is not working as an adequate defense against blatant non-compliance.
The full press release can be found on Stormwater Authority.org
-Stormwater Guru
Construction Fines JH Berra Missouri stormwater Violation
In late June, the TCEQ (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) announced that Citgo was being fined over $500,000. Apparently, Citgo had been skimming oil off of tanks that weren’t supposed to have any oil in them for the last 10 years. The punishment is still in the works, but it shows that industrial water permitting ignorance does not pay.
From the Press Release:
CITGO was convicted on two counts of operating two huge open top tanks, 116 and 117, without installing the proper emission controls required by state and federal regulations at its Corpus Christi East Plant Refinery….
More than 4.5 million gallons of oil were discovered in the tanks during an unannounced inspection by the TCEQ of the plant in March 2002….
CITGO and environmental manager Philip Vrazel were indicted by a federal grand jury in Corpus Christi on Aug. 9, 2006. The indictment charged them with a total of 10 counts of violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). The charges were severed and Vrazel and the company will be tried in July for the MBTA counts….
Sentencing is scheduled for October 18, 2007, at which time, CITGO faces fines of up to $500,000 or twice the gross economic gain (whichever is greater) and five years of probation.
Citgo Gas in the Drinking water… fantastic.
-Stormwater Guru
Citgo Fines Industrial stormwater Texas Violation
