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EPA PENALIZES ORO VALLEY DEVELOPER $60,000 FOR STORMWATER VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 5/7/2001
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, U.S. EPA, 415/744-1588

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency penalized Sharpe and Associates and Palisades Development Company $60,000 today for stormwater pollution violations at a development site in Oro Valley, Ariz.

     Sharpe and Palasades failed to stabilize disturbed areas and did not take other measures needed to prevent sediment laden runoff during grading and construction of the 50 acre Catalina Shadows Phase Four Development Site. As a result, rain eroded bare soil and carried excessive amounts of sediment into Big Wash in the Canada del Oro watershed, a tributary to the Santa Cruz River.      

     "This penalty could have been avoided if the developer had used effective sediment and erosion controls," said Alexis Strauss, director of the Water Division of the EPA's Pacific Southwest office.  "Land owner, developers, and their contractors have a long-standing legal obligation to maintain management practices that ensure sediment in storm water does not pollute waterways."

     For sites five acres or larger, the federal Clean Water Act requires that developers and contractors implement stormwater pollution prevention plans that include effective erosion and sediment control measures so that sediment discharges do not increase above what normally occurs prior to grading.  Sharpe did not properly carry out its storm water pollution prevention plan.

     Sediment from construction sites can clog up city storm drains or end up in streams and rivers, choking plant and animal life.  Many pollutants such as oil and grease from various sources also bind to sediments, and are then transported into waterways along with the sediment.

     Inspectors from the EPA, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the town of Oro Valley discovered the violations during three separate inspections between August 1998 and July 1999.