Colorado Construction Firm Settles Storm Water Violations

WASHINGTON, June 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Colorado Structures, Inc., (CSI)
a construction management firm that specializes in building big-box commercial
stores in the western United States, has agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty and
implement a company-wide storm water compliance program to resolve alleged
Clean Water Act violations, the Justice Department and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

CSI, as part of the settlement joined by the state of Colorado, will implement
a company-wide program to significantly reduce storm water pollution at its
construction sites. The company has agreed to comply with storm water
permitting requirements; develop a management system to improve its oversight
of operations; inspect sites daily; train site personnel on federal storm
water requirements; take quick corrective actions when problems related to
storm water runoff arise; and provide quarterly progress reports to EPA.

"Storm water runoff from construction sites poses a threat to the environment
by washing sediment, debris and other pollutants into surrounding waterways
and degrading water quality," said Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney
General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources
Division. "We will continue to work with EPA to enforce the Clean Water Act
and to prevent this type of pollution from entering our nation's waterways."

Construction projects like those involved in this case have a high potential
for environmental harm because they cover large areas of land. Today's
announcement is part of a national enforcement initiative aimed at reducing
pollution from storm water discharges from construction sites.

"Protecting the quality of our nation's waters is a top priority," said Robert
E. Roberts, EPA's Regional Administrator in Denver. "Today's announcement
makes clear that we will enforce the Clean Water Act to achieve that goal."

According to the complaint filed along with the settlement, beginning in 1999,
EPA and state inspectors found a pattern of failures to comply with storm
water requirements. EPA documented violations at 16 construction sites in
Colorado, California, Nevada and South Dakota, including violations of
applicable permits and the failure to obtain a permit.

The Clean Water Act requires that construction sites have controls in place to
prevent pollution from being discharged with storm water into nearby
waterways. Each site must have a storm water pollution prevention plan that
sets guidelines and best management practices that the company will follow to
prevent runoff from being contaminated by pollutants. EPA also requires that
all construction projects larger than one acre obtain a federal permit.

Without on-site controls, runoff from construction sites can flow directly to
the nearest waterway and can cause beach closings, swimming and fishing
restrictions, and habitat degradation. As storm water flows over construction
sites, it can pick up pollutants, including sediment, used oil, pesticides,
solvents and other debris. Polluted runoff can harm or kill fish and
wildlife, erode stream banks and affect drinking water quality.

CSI operates in the western United States and is headquartered in Colorado
Springs, Colo., with offices in Oregon and California. It is a general
contractor for and developer of big-box stores such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot,
Fred Meyer and Safeway. The CSI violations cited in the complaint were
documented during construction of Wal-Mart and Home Depot stores.

The Justice Department and EPA have previously concluded an enforcement action
against Wal-Mart, which involved many of the same sites as in the CSI
complaint. CSI was a contractor for Wal-Mart at the time the violations
occurred and under the CWA, CSI also may be held liable for these violations
as an operator at these sites.

The consent decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court in Denver, is subject to
a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. CSI is
required to pay the penalty within 30 days of the court's approval of the
settlement, of which $50,000 will go to the state of Colorado.

A copy of the consent decree is available on the Justice Department Web site
at http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007; TDD,
+1-202-514-1888; or Environmental Protection Agency, +1-303-312-6654