EPA Action: EPA, Navajo Nation inspect 40 underground tanks on tribal lands

In other news below:
-- Public comment period for proposed Clean Water Act Consent Decree
-- EPA adds 7 sites, proposes 12, to Superfund list
-- EPA orders egg farm to cease discharge of pollutants
-- EPA orders restoration of Montana creek
-- EPA issues final administrative orders to Louisiana water supply systems
-- U.S. Army, state of Florida establish targets for Everglades Restoration Plan
-- EPA pushes procurement of materials from recovered waste
-- EPA, Iowa city agree on plan to fix city sewers

• EPA, Navajo Nation inspect 40 underground tanks on tribal lands
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 24 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency recently inspected 40 underground fuel tank sites in an effort to increase compliance and prevent petroleum releases to the environment.

Between March and June of this year, the agencies together inspected fuel tanks located in areas of interest to the Navajo Tribe, issuing 20 field citations for a total combined penalty of $8,200 for violations of underground storage tank regulations. The field citations were issued for operation, maintenance and record keeping violations.

"The EPA and the Navajo EPA are committed to enforcing underground tank regulations," said Nancy Lindsay, the EPA's acting Waste Management Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "Leak prevention is essential in protecting the Navajo Nation's precious ground water supplies. A hole the size of a pinhead in an underground storage tank can release 400 gallons of fuel in a year's time, enough to foul millions of gallons of fresh water"...

• Public comment period for proposed Clean Water Act Consent Decree
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 20 -- EPA has issued a 30-day comment period on a proposed Consent Decree in United States v. The Meridian Resource & Exploration LLC et al. ("Meridian Consent Decree") (Civil Action No. 07-1482). The Consent Decree was lodged with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on September 6, 2007, for violations of the Clean Water Act...

• EPA adds 7 sites, proposes 12, to Superfund list
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 19, 2007 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adding seven new hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the list for investigation and clean-up. The list, known as National Priorities List (NPL), sets priorities under the federal Superfund program that addresses complex uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country...

• EPA orders egg farm to cease discharge of pollutants
DALLAS, TX, Sept. 18, 2007 -- Based on a citizen's complaint about the discharge of pollutants into an unnamed tributary to the East Branch of Chigney Sandy Creek, which flows into Dilday Lake in Garvin County, Oklahoma, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a cease and desist administrative order to Mahard Egg Farms' Boogie Hill facility for violations of the Clean Water Act...

• EPA orders restoration of Montana creek
DENVER, CO, Sept. 12, 2007 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Bob and Traci Burleson and Wayne Herling to restore a 1,500-foot segment of West Bridger Creek in Sweet Grass County, MT, after damaging it in violation of the Clean Water Act...

• EPA issues final administrative orders to Louisiana water supply systems
DALLAS, TX, Sept. 11, 2007 -- In its continuing effort to ensure that the residents of northeast Louisiana have safe drinking water, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it has issued two final administrative orders to owners and operators of public water supply systems for violations of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act...

• U.S. Army, state of Florida establish targets for Everglades Restoration Plan
Sept. 7 -- The Army Corps of Engineers and the State of Florida have established interim targets for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The purpose of the interim targets is to evaluate progress towards other water-related needs of the region provided for in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan throughout the implementation process...

• EPA pushes procurement of materials from recovered waste
WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 6, 2007 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is revising the list of items designated in the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines' landscaping products category to promote the use of materials recovered from solid waste. EPA is expanding the description of "compost" from yard trimmings and food waste to include compost from biosolids and manure, but does not limit the designation to specific types of organic materials. In addition, EPA has added fertilizer made from recovered materials as a designated landscaping item...

• EPA, Iowa city agree on plan to fix city sewers
KANSAS CITY, KS, Sept. 5, 2007 -- Muscatine, Iowa, has agreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to spend what could amount to $30 million or more to repair its sewer system. The administrative agreement sets a schedule for the city to complete the separation of its combined sewers, which carry storm water and sanitary sewage. The systems will often overflow when it rains, allowing untreated sewage to flow into nearby creeks, streams and lakes...

Among other recent EPA announcements:
• Icicle Seafoods agrees to pay $900K to settle EPA Clean Water Act complaint
• St. Marys River/Tannery Bay cleanup finished
• EPA orders Allen Marine Inc. of Sitka, Alaska to restore tidelands
• EPA files complaint, seeks penalties against Black Diamond Engineering for Clean Water Act violations
• Federal government announces settlement with Texas oil company over oil spills in coastal Louisiana
• EPA fines Guam Waterworks Authority $40K for failure to meet federal court order to improve wastewater system
• Frito-Lay plant earns spot in EPA top-performance program
• EPA awards OSU over $600K to study flood sedimentation events on Pacific Northwest estuaries
• EPA orders Center Point Dairy to stop discharge of pollutants