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Seaway Marina Fined for Violating the Clean Water Act

Release Date: 09/23/2009
Contact Information: Dave Bary at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Dallas, Texas – September 23, 2009) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has fined Seaway Marina of Lafitte, Louisiana, $2,250 for violating federal Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations outlined under the Clean Water Act. A federal inspection of a bulk storage facility located at 5057 Kenal Road, Lafitte, Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, on May 6, 2009, revealed the facility had no SPCC plan required by federal regulations. The inspection also found secondary containment of bulk storage areas to be inadequate, containment bypass valves were not closed when not draining rainwater, and valves used for drainage from diked storage areas were not controlled to prevent a discharge of oil. As part of an Expedited Settlement Agreement with EPA, the facility has provided certification that all identified deficiencies have been corrected.

SPCC regulations require onshore production and bulk storage facilities to provide oil spill prevention, preparedness and response to prevent oil discharges. The SPCC program helps protect our nation’s water quality. A spill of only one gallon of oil can contaminate one million gallons of water.

Additional information on SPCC regulations is available at https://www.epa.gov/oilspill

More about activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/region6

EPA audio file is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/sep2009.html