SAN FRANCISCO, JULY 30, 2018 -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced settlements with two Goodyear, Ariz.-based companies to resolve Clean Water Act (CWA) violations. BioFlora, a fertilizer manufacturer, and Inventure Foods, a food manufacturer, will pay $39,000 and $79,957 in civil penalties, respectively. Each company has made improvements to their facilities' wastewater pretreatment systems to achieve compliance with local and federal pretreatment standards.
"Pretreatment of industrial wastewater protects the downstream wastewater treatment system as well as local waterways," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Mike Stoker. "These agreements will prevent thousands of pounds of pollutants from entering Goodyear's wastewater treatment plant."
As part of negotiations with EPA, BioFlora installed a wastewater recycling system allowing it to become a zero-discharge facility. Inventure upgraded its wastewater system and operations procedures through an Administrative Order on Consent.
Improvements to the companies' wastewater pretreatment systems will significantly reduce the volume of pollutants sent to Goodyear's wastewater treatment system each year, including over 230,000 pounds of total dissolved solids, 44,000 pounds of oil and grease and 250 pounds of nutrients in the form of nitrogen and phosphorous.
During inspections in 2016 and 2017, EPA found that BioFlora and Inventure discharged wastewater violating local and federal standards from their manufacturing facilities into the City of Goodyear wastewater system. Municipal wastewater treatment facilities are not designed to treat industrial wastewater; as a result, industrial facilities are required under CWA to pretreat wastewater before it enters municipal drains.
Both facilities discharge industrial wastewater into Goodyear's sewer system, which in turn flows to the city's 157th Avenue Water Reclamation Facility.
