Water Board Fines Thunder Valley
Posted on: Sunday, 19 March 2006, 15:00 CST
By Chris Bowman, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Mar. 19--State water-quality enforcers have fined owners of the Thunder Valley Casino near Lincoln $435,000 for polluting tributaries of the Sacramento River with inadequately treated sewage.
The United Auburn Indian Community's records show the wastewater flowing out of its sewage treatment plant on numerous days contained concentrations of bacteria that exceeded the state's health limits, according to the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The fine represents the minimum penalty state law requires for persistent violations of wastewater pollution limits, said Kenneth Landau, the board's assistant executive officer, who issued the March 7 action.
Under California's relatively new "mandatory minimum penalty" law, Landau fined Thunder Valley $3,000 for each of 145 "serious violations" regulators documented in the past three years, from the week the casino opened in June 2003.
Water board officials were not aware of the substandard conditions last March when they permitted the casino owners to expand the treatment works and significantly increase the discharges to streams, according to board records.
Board staff discovered the problems three months later during a routine inspection.
Inspectors cited the casino not only for the effluent violations but also for failing to report recurring breakdowns of its disinfection systems, and for failing to divert the contaminated effluent to holding ponds.
In response to the violations, the casino's wastewater treatment consultants said the owners "responded promptly and responsibly to the problems encountered by immediately adding personnel to evaluate and address the problems."
-----
Copyright (c) 2006, The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.
Source: The Sacramento Bee
Related Articles
- Arizona American Water Recognizes Paradise Valley for Encouraging Residents to Conserve
- Pennsylvania State Highlights Education, Treatment Services During 'Problem Gambling Awareness Week'
- Space-borne Sensors Help Africa Tackle Water Shortage Problems
- Penn State Great Valley Addresses Issues in Health Care
- Workers Repair Sinkhole at Airport: Section of Taxiway Collapsed After Water Main Problem
- Pesticide Violations Aren't Indicative of Growing Problem, Officials Say
- Water Utility's Problems Part of a Pattern
- School Board to Use Its Own and State Web Sites for Superintendent Search
- Media Executive Says North Carolina Corporations Fail to Address State Problems
- Water Testing Resumes; Exploring Treatment Plant Update Options
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds