Civil Enforcement

The goal of enforcing the environmental laws and their requirements is to protect public health and the environment. The success of the Agency's Enforcement Programs may be measured by considering several factors, such as the number of facilities where enforcement actions have taken place, the reduction of pollutant release into the environment, the number of environmental improvement projects imposed, the penalties collected, and so on. We are continually working to improve our performance measures.

Beneficial Environmental Results from Enforcement Actions

Some examples of positive environmental results and improvements achieved through settlements in Water enforcement actions are as follows:

Iowa Beef Packers, Inc.: World's largest meat packer agreed to construct additional wastewater treatment systems at its Dakota City, Nebraska plant to reduce its discharges of ammonia to the Missouri River, and to continue and expand operational improvements ordered that will significantly reduce hydrogen sulfide air emissions. The company also agreed to pay a $4.1 million penalty and to perform Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) valued at $3.4 million. (Additional Settlement Information)

Premium Standards Farms (PSF): A civil settlement with the nation's second largest pork producer, PSF and Continental Grain Company, Inc.(Continental), to resolve violations of the Clean Water Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act, The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, and the Clean Air Act that occurred at a number of the companies' factory farms, known as concentrated animal feeding operating (CAFOs) in northwest Missouri. The company is required to test lagoons for leakage, monitor air emissions, and pay penalties. PSF and Continental have agreed to pay a $350,000 civil penalty (besides $650,000 previously paid to the state of Missouri), and spend, according to EPA estimates, as much as $50 million to develop and install cleaner wastewater treatment technologies never before used in large-scale farm operations. The companies have also agreed to fund a $300,000 supplemental environmental project to reduce air emissions and odors from swine barns. (Additional Settlement Information)

WalMart: The store and 10 of the store's contractors were the target of the first national enforcement action for multi-state violations of the storm water regulations. The violations occurred at 17 WalMart Stores construction sites in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Massachusetts. The settlement commits WalMart Stores to a comprehensive environmental management plan (valued at $4.5 million) to increase compliance at each of the store's construction sites nationwide through additional inspections, training and recordkeeping and requires the company to pay a $1 million penalty. (Additional Settlement Information)

Amtrak: EPA brought an enforcement action against Amtrak for failing to develop and implement appropriate storm water controls and for other environmental violations at nine Amtrak sites in New England. Amtrak agreed to establish a company-wide environmental management system (valued at $11 million), pay a $500,000 penalty and spend $900,000 on environmental projects. (Additional Settlement Information)

Koch Industries, Inc.: The company will pay one of the largest civil fines ever imposed on a company under a federal environmental law to resolve claims related to more than 300 oil spills from its pipelines and oil facilities in six states. Koch, the second largest privately held company in the U.S., will pay a $30 million civil penalty to improve its leak-prevention programs, and spend $5 million on environmental projects. (Additional Settlement Information)

Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSOs) Accomplishments: EPA has successfully brought a number of CWA enforcement actions in recent years to address sanitary sewer overflows. These enforcement actions have eliminated millions of gallons of raw sewage discharges into the nation's waters. These actions include a suit against the City of New Orleans, Louisiana which will do major construction and pay a penalty of $1.5 million as well as perform a Supplement Environmental Project (SEP) valued at $2 million. Other settlements include Atlanta, Georgia, Maui, Hawaii, and Jefferson County (Birmingham), Alabama. Jefferson County is doing a SEP valued at $30 million to acquire and maintain protected areas called 'greenways', which are narrow parcels of land along rivers and their tributaries. The purpose of greenways is to reduce or prevent erosion and non-point source pollution from entering rivers and to restore water quality along waterways impacted by CWA violations. A secondary benefit of the greenways is to protect the aquatic and stream corridor habitats of the rivers. Jefferson County also paid a penalty of $750,000 and will do major con

Top of page