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EPA INVESTIGATES COAST GUARD STORM WATER DISCHARGE AT MASSACHUSETTS MILITARY RESERVATION

Release Date: 02/06/1997
Contact Information: Elizabeth Higgins, (617) 918-1051

BOSTON---The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency said today it will investigate a storm water discharge from the Coast Guard's housing area to Osborn Pond at the Massachusetts Military Reservation on Upper Cape Cod.

In a letter to Captain William Clark, Commander of the Coast Guard's base at the MMR, John P. DeVillars, Administrator of EPA's New England Office, notified the Coast Guard that a formal review of the discharge is required under the federal Clean Water Act to determine whether, and under what controls, the discharge can be allowed to continue.

EPA has given the Coast Guard 21 days to provide information on the types and amounts of pollutants in the discharge as well as all past and present activities undertaken on property draining into Osborn Pond. EPA also required the Coast Guard to immediately begin monitoring the discharge for organic pollutants, oil and grease, and other substances and to report the monitoring results within 60 days.

"I have asked Captain Clark and his Coast Guard team to work closely with EPA to identify problems with this storm water discharge and to recommend corrective actions," said DeVillars. "We expect that with the full cooperation of the Coast Guard any problems at Osborn Pond will be addressed promptly."

He added that EPA will also be reviewing any other storm water discharges to ponds on the 21,000-acre Massachusetts Military Reservation to determine if proper controls are in place.

"The small ponds and streams on the base must be protected because of their close interrelationship with the groundwater that is so crucial to the health of Cape residents," said DeVillars.

EPA became aware of the Coast Guard discharge and its potentially significant pollution of Osborn Pond as the result of a January 30, 1997 article in the Cape Cod Times.