Our Client’s Challenge
Our client is the owner of a 250+-acre industrial park in Vancouver, Washington, located adjacent and riparian to the Columbia River. The facility includes 28 separate industrial facilities with more than 200 individual tenants or subtenants. Although several of the individual tenants are separately regulated by federal stormwater pollution control (NPDES) permits and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs) administered by the Washington Department of Ecology (DOE), the client was ordered to enter into a separate NPDES permit and SWPPP to monitor and control stormwater from the entire facility. This circumstance is rare.
Our Solution
We successfully concluded negotiations with DOE for a Consent Order through which the client agreed to implement a new sitewide SWPPP under a new NPDES permit pursuant to which the vast majority of the stormwater discharge locations would be regulated under a single, sitewide SWPPP, with the flexibility to incorporate and include additional discharge locations as needed in the future. The new SWPPP included the consolidation of discharge locations and installation of additional stormwater treatment features that reduce the ultimate number of discharge locations subject to regulation and the overall discharge of pollutants to the Columbia River. Additionally, we regularly assist the landlord client in enforcement of tenant compliance responsibilities to ensure compliance with the newly implemented SWPPP.
Tags: Environmental and Natural Resources, Agriculture
