County to Settle with EPA Over Storm Water Pollution

According to an article from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Henrico County is ready to settle more than a year after being notified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it would be penalized under the federal Clean Water Act for its handling of storm water pollution.

The EPA issued the administrative complaint on April 6, 2011, with a penalty of $164,300. The Henrico Board of Supervisors was expected to vote earlier in April to approve a settlement agreement that would significantly cut the penalty. The settlement amount has not been announced yet.

Henrico is not alone among Virginia localities feeling the sting of EPA enforcement recently. Chesterfield County was hit with a $131,000 penalty for storm water pollution. The county and the EPA negotiated a settlement, made official in December, for $77,866. That amount included $31,200 toward a Chesterfield program to distribute 220 storm water spill kits and ensure their proper use.

Benjamin A. Thorp, an assistant county attorney for Henrico, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch that the penalties levied in Virginia are "part of a big push by the EPA to address storm water runoff."

Thorp told the newspaper that the EPA had previously focused on wastewater treatment plants and that after improvements were made to those plants, the agency shifted its focus to storm water.

The shift comes at the same time as a renewed emphasis on the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which stretches across parts of six states.

You can read the original article here.

Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch