The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) issued a November 15th Director’s Order and Assessment (“Order”) to BAE Systems Ordinance Systems, Inc. (“BAE”) addressing alleged violations of a Clean Water Act National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permit. See Case No. WPC21-0093.
The Order states that BAE operates Holston Army Ammunition Plant (“Site”) and manufactures explosive materials for the United States Department of Defense.
The TDEC Division of Water Resources (“Division”) is stated to have issued an NPDES permit to BAE which expired on March 31, 2014. According to the permit’s administrative continuation,
The NPDES permit authorizes the discharge of industrial wastewater that has been treated.
- Coal pile runoff
- Landfill leachate
- Treated domestic wastewater excess flow during peak flow conditions
- Stormwater runoff
The United States Environmental Protection Agency Quarterly Noncompliance Report states that the BAE Site appeared for multiple quarters in the monitoring period September 30, 2019 through October 1, 2020. This report covers effluent limitation exceedances.
BAE has self-reported that it exceeded its effluent limits on its Site Discharge Monitoring Reports in the previously mentioned monitoring period, as described in the Order for these outfalls.
- Holston River from Outfall 020
- Holston River from Outfall 025
- Outfall 036 to Arnott Branch
- Outfall 037 – Arnott Branch
The Order proposes a civil penalty amounting to $49,980. The Order also requires the submission of an Engineering Report/Corrective Action Plan within 90 days of receipt. A progress report and a final report must be submitted within 30 days of the completion of the documents previously mentioned.
Certain appeal rights are available under the Order.
Download a copy the Order here.