Source: Environmental Protection Agency Region 1, Boston

EPA has announced a settlement with Consolidated Concrete Corp. whereby the East Providence, R.I., producer will pay a $55,000 fine to resolve Clean Water Act (CWA) violations and invest an estimated $178,000 on three Supplemental Environmental Projects. In a July 2007 plant inspection, the agency cited 1) unauthorized waste water discharge; 2) discharge of storm water associated with industrial activity, absent a Rhode Island storm water permit application; and, 3) failure to prepare and implement a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure plan as required by CWA Oil Pollution Prevention regulations. The violations resulted in pollutant discharge to a nearby stream.

Consolidated Concrete brought its plant into CWA compliance quickly after the inspection. Its first two Supplemental projects entail construction of a closed-loop recycling system to capture waste water for re-use in production or maintenance, and provide for recovery of potentially reclaimable solids from containment basins. A third project involves installation of two Storm Water Quality Control Units to improve site runoff.