Wastewater Enforcement: Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and Oak Grove, Arkansas RV Resort Enter into Consent Administrative Order

The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and Ozarks RV Resort Owners Association, Inc. (“Ozarks”) entered into a May 6th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing a violation of a Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit. See LIS No. 19-042.

The CAO provides that Ozarks operates a wastewater treatment facility (“Facility”) in Oak Grove, Arkansas.

The Facility discharges wastewater to Tablerock Reservoir, and eventually to the White River Basin. Such discharges have been authorized pursuant to an NPDES permit.

The NPDES permit required Ozarks to submit a complete permit renewal application at least 180 days prior to the expiration date of the permit if the activity regulated by the permit was to continue after the expiration date. The CAO provides that Ozarks intends to operate the Facility beyond the expiration date of the current NPDES permit (August 31, 2019).

ADEQ was stated to have notified Ozarks that the NPDES permit would expire on August 31, 2018, and that in order to continue the regulated activity, a complete renewal application must be submitted no later than March 4, 2019. Ozarks is stated to have failed to date to submit a complete NPDES permit renewal application. Such alleged failure is a violation of Part III, Section D, Condition 10 of the NPDES permit.

The CAO requires that Ozarks within 30 calendar days of the effective date of the CAO, submit a complete permit renewal application to ADEQ. Further, Ozarks is required to comply with the existing NPDES permit until either the effective date of the NPDES permit renewal or the effective date of the permit termination.

A civil penalty of $1,000 is assessed which could be reduced to $500 if the document is returned to ADEQ within 20 days of the effective date of the CAO.

A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.