Grain Processing Corporation (GPC) in Muscatine has agreed to pay a $129,000 fine for violations of the federal Clean Water Act that occurred in 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today (4/16).
"GPC failed to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) monitoring requirements by taking unrepresentative flow measurements and not conducting settleability tests; failed to maintain all facilities and control systems in good working order; and exceeded the effluent limitations for biochemical oxygen demand, total suspended solids, temperature, and pH," according to the EPA news release. "GPC came into compliance with Clean Water Act regulations after EPA Region 7 issued an order to the company on July 29, 2011, requiring it to correct the violations."
The effluent violations negatively impacted the Mississippi River, according to the EPA. The operations and maintenance violations, which included malfunctioning equipment and failure to comply with monitoring requirements, led to wastewater pollutants being released into the river which are not accurately known or documented.
“Discharge permits are one of the Clean Water Act’s most important tools to protect our waters’ health and productivity,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said in the news release. “EPA takes NPDES violations very seriously and this penalty sends a message to GPC and others that protecting our waters is an important part of their operations.”
By agreeing to the settlement, GPC has certified that it now is in compliance with the Clean Water Act.
GPC also is being investigated by the EPA for alleged violations of the air pollution laws over a four-year period, 2007-2011. According to the notice sent GPC in March 2012, the EPA alleged the facility at 1600 Oregon St., Muscatine, "repeatedly violated limits on air emissions opacity that were set forth in the company's 1995 amended construction permit and 2003 operating permit."
The Muscatine firm also is facing a civil lawsuit by the Iowa Attorney General on air and water pollution.
