Solar Farms Settle With EPA for Clean Water Act Violations During Construction
Four solar farm companies were recently assessed $1.34 million in penalties for failing to properly manage stormwater during construction of four large scale solar farms. Two sites in Illinois and one site each in Alabama and Idaho were all developed with a common contractor who violated the Clean Water Act according to the EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Certain violations resulted in excess sediment discharged into nearby waterways. The DOJ stated that the solar developers will “be held accountable for construction practices that put our waterways at risk.” EPA also alleged that the solar companies of these four sites and their common contractor violated their stormwater permits due to failure to design, install, and maintain proper controls; failure to conduct required inspections with qualified personnel; and failure to accurately report and respond to stormwater issues.
Similar to the permits and requirements for these solar developments, a construction activity planned in Indiana that could disturb one or more acre requires a Construction Stormwater General Permit from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. The permit is necessary prior to initiating any site work. A disturbance of land includes any manmade change of the land surface—including removing vegetative cover that exposes underlying soil, excavating, filling, transporting, and grading—or any such activities associated with the construction of infrastructure and structures. The permit requirements, including those detailed in a required Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan must be followed during construction to prevent any pollutants, including sediment and construction materials, from entering the stormwater runoff.
Depending on the nature of the site and the work, other permits associated with the construction activity could be required. Allocating resources for Clean Water Act compliance early in construction planning helps address the many requirements that enforcement agencies can easily inspect at any construction site. If the site experiences melting snow or rain, the stormwater violations and penalties could quickly escalate.