EPA resolves Clean Water Act violations with Enumclaw company for $63,984

EPA resolves Clean Water Act violations with Enumclaw company for $63,984

July 30, 2024

SEATTLE - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that Parker Hannifin Corporation, formerly Helac Corporation, will pay $63,984 for Clean Water Act violations at its facility in Enumclaw, Washington.

In January 2023, EPA inspectors found several violations of the company's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System industrial stormwater permit including:

• failure to maintain a Stormwater Pollution Control Plan
• failure to sample and monitor stormwater discharges
• failure to maintain structural controls and measures
• failure to conduct routine site inspections

In its investigation, the EPA also found a discharge through the facility's outfall that was unbeknownst to the facility. The facility will improve its permit compliance by sampling and monitoring, reviewing and revising its Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, maintaining stormwater control measures, conducting routine site inspections, and reporting and keeping records as required by the permit.

"EPA is committed to enforcing the industrial stormwater rules under the Clean Water Act to protect Pacific Northwest waters," said EPA Region 10 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Ed Kowalski. "In this case, this enforcement action will help prevent pollution from entering Newaukum Creek, a tributary to the Green River."

Newaukum Creek is a spawning area for protected species including Puget Sound Chinook, Coho, Steelhead and Cutthroat Trout. However, due to excessive levels of fecal coliform, reduced dissolved oxygen, and high temperatures, Newaukum Creek is considered an impaired waterbody by EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology.

The Clean Water Act prohibits discharging pollutants from industrial sources into a water of the United States without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. Stormwater can pick up pollutants like chemicals, oils, and sediment from industrial facilities which are then carried into waterways and harm fish and other aquatic life. The permit requires industrial sites to monitor, measure, and reduce stormwater pollution leaving their facilities.