EPA Fines Shilling Construction Company Inc. for Alleged Clean Water Act Violations in Kansas

Aug 19, 2022

LENEXA, KAN. – Asphalt manufacturer Shilling Construction Company Inc. will pay $71,324 in civil penalties to resolve alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act (CWA). According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the company failed to adequately control stormwater runoff from its Manhattan, Kansas, facility. EPA says these failures led to illegal discharges of pollution into the Kansas River.

“Uncontrolled runoff from asphalt and other manufacturing facilities threatens the health of our nation’s waters and the public’s use and enjoyment of those waters,” said David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “These enforcement actions protect our streams and rivers and level the playing field with businesses who are following the rules.”

In the settlement documents, EPA alleges that Shilling Construction failed to comply with certain terms of its CWA permit, including failure to develop an adequate plan to reduce pollutants in stormwater runoff; failure to construct and/or maintain adequate stormwater controls; and failure to conduct and/or document required inspections and monitoring of the facility. The Agency also cited violations of regulations intended to prevent spills from oil stored at the company’s facility.

In addition to paying the penalty, Shilling Construction agreed to submit reports to EPA and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment outlining the steps it has taken to return to compliance, as well as sampling stormwater runoff from the facility to ensure stormwater controls and management practices are functioning as intended.

Under the CWA, industrial facilities that propose to discharge into protected water bodies are required to obtain permits and to follow the requirements outlined in those permits to reduce pollution runoff. Failure to obtain a permit or to follow the requirements of a permit may violate federal law.

To learn more about EPA’s enforcement of the CWA, visit: www.epa.gov/enforcement/water-enforcement.

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Learn more about EPA Region 7: www.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-7-midwest

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7 - 11201 Renner Blvd., Lenexa, KS 66219
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations