Boat Track Owner Settles Water Pollution Charges

By Mark Edward Nero

Sprint boat racetrack operator A2Z Enterprises reached an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency on July 24 to resolve violations of the federal Clean Water Act. Through the settlement with the EPA, A2Z Enterprises has agreed to pay a $14,000 penalty and restore wetlands on its property in Port Angeles, Washington, that were filled in conjunction with the construction of a sprint boat racetrack.

A2Z Enterprises used mechanized construction equipment from July to September 2011 to build a sprint boat racetrack and a gravel road. The violation, according to the EPA, occurred when fill material was placed in wetlands that were outside of the project’s original boundaries without the required permit, resulting in the illegal placement of fill materials into adjacent wetlands.

Fill materials were placed into about 1.31 acres of wetlands that connect to the Strait of Juan de Fuca through Dry Creek. The Clean Water Act requires a permit before dredged or fill material may be discharged into US waters.

Wetland and stream ecosystems within the Puget Sound play a critical role in the health of the Pacific Northwest waterways by trapping floodwaters, recharging groundwater, removing pollution, and providing fish and wildlife habitat. Salmon depend on the clean waterways that wetlands help to buffer and protect.

Under the settlement, A2Z Enterprises is responsible for removing the fill and restoring the 1.31 acres of wetlands by Sept. 30.

Foss Retrofit System Receives EPA Verification

Clean hybrid technology pioneered by Foss Maritime and Aspin Kemp & Associates of Stratford, PEI recently received verification from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

After a rigorous process, the EPA verified the XeroPoint Hybrid Tug Retrofit System, which was installed and extensively tested on a Foss harbor tug in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

The verification means the XeroPoint hybrid system is certified as an effective choice for use on any US harbor tug seeking to meet the nation’s highest environmental standards.

The hybrid retrofit Campbell Foss has been working in southern California since 2012, using ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel. The University of California-Riverside, which has been testing the Foss Maritime/AKA system, found a fuel savings of roughly 30 percent; a 25 percent particulate matter reduction; a 30 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides produced during combustion; a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide; and a 35 percent reduction in carbon monoxide.

“The hybrid retrofit reduces fuel costs and pollution,” Foss Maritime President and CEO Paul Stevens said. “EPA verification of the California test results is what the maritime industry has been looking for.”

On the Campbell Foss, the XeroPoint system integrates electrical and mechanical devices onboard to provide optimal modes of operation for power and propulsion. The hybrid system’s energy management system strives to eliminate the unnecessary idling of diesel engines by determining the most efficient configuration of the electrical and mechanical devices on board.

“The Foss/AKA XeroPoint system is a great example of technology innovation to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy in the marine sector,” Jim Blubaugh, Deputy Director of the Transportation and Climate Office at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said. “By reducing diesel emissions at ports, the XeroPoint Hybrid Tugboat Retrofit System can help improve air quality and energy independence in one of our nation’s most important supply chain sectors. We look forward to the broad deployment of this technology in harbor tugboat vessels.”

The technology is now included on EPA’s Verified Technology List. For more information about verified technologies and the Verified Technology list, please visit: http://epa.gov/cleandiesel/verification/ .

Port of Tacoma Settles Wetlands Damage Case

The Port of Tacoma and two contractors have agreed to pay a $500,000 penalty and restore wetland habitat to compensate for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act that damaged valuable Puget Sound wetlands.

The Port of Tacoma and contractors Scarsella Brothers Inc. and WAKA Group Inc. have agreed to spend an estimated $3 million on restoration projects, including restoring wetlands on nearly 10 acres of port property, including stream ecosystem restoration and enhancements on nearby Upper Clear Creek where the port will restore or improve 28 acres of wetlands as part of a larger project.

The case originated in 2008, after the EPA and US Army Corps of Engineers discovered that the Port of Tacoma hired a contractor to raze vegetation and destroyed more than four acres of wetlands in Hylebos Marsh, an area that provided important wildlife habitat and enhanced Puget Sound water quality.

The contractor performed the work at the direction of the port, which had been working to eradicate vineyard snails from Hylebos Marsh with guidance from the US Department of Agriculture. An order from USDA stated that plowing and grading to deal with the invasive snail species was acceptable in non-wetland areas only.

At the time EPA and the Army Corps discovered the destroyed wetlands at Hylebos Marsh, the port also disclosed that in 2006 it directed a contractor to dump over 4,000 cubic yards of urban fill materials—including soil, concrete and asphalt pieces—into nearly two acres of wetlands in an area east of Hylebos Marsh.

The Clean Water Act prohibits discharge of pollutants to the waters of the United States, including certain wetlands, except as authorized by a permit. The Port of Tacoma did not have required Clean Water Act permits to conduct work in the wetlands.

The wetlands impacted by the unpermitted activity were located adjacent to Commencement Bay, a waterway that has undergone a major EPA Superfund cleanup and an area that has lost most of its historic streams and wetlands.

“We can’t afford to lose Puget Sound wetlands, especially where they are so scarce,” EPA Regional Administrator Dennis McLerran said. “The permitting process exists to allow responsible development that also protects the environment.”

The settlement proposal has been filed with the court, and according to the terms of an August 5 settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and US Justice Department, the public will have 30 days to provide comments, which the court will consider before the settlement is approved.

The restoration work is scheduled to begin later this month.