Foxconn Faces Fines For Lack of Sediment Controls

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) fined Foxconn Technology Group $1,159.50 for flooding and sediment-laden storm water that occurred over Labor Day weekend at the Wisconn Valley Science and Technology Park in Mount Pleasant, Wis. While flooding at the site has not occurred since, the DNR said that Foxconn failed to fully construct a storm water basin that would have caught runoff.

According to the Journal Times, Foxconn was required to create three storm water basins around its construction area in order to trap storm water runoff and sediment flows. Grading on the east side of the construction site was completed before the 11.2-acre Basin C was fully excavated and led to flooding.

Since the flooding, a dewatering treatment system has been installed to filter sediments before the storm water runoff reaches a culvert underneath county Highway H. However, if Foxconn had complied with its erosion control plan, sediment-laden discharge would not have reached the Pike River over Labor Day weekend, said the DNR.

“Prior to the Labor Day weekend, neither the Village of Mount Pleasant, nor the Wisconsin DNR, had received any complaints regarding runoff or other storm water management related matters,” said Claude Lois, Foxconn project director for the village of Mount Pleasant.

Foxconn’s construction has raised similar concerns in neighboring Lake County, Ill., where the Lake County Stormwater Management Commission has embarked on a $74,000 engineering study to review possible flooding impacts to the county and the Des Plaines watershed.

Following the fine, the DNR has begun attending weekly site meetings to ensure the company is implementing its erosion control plan.