The EPA announced a US$740,000 settlement on November 29, 2011, with Lafarge North America for alleged Clean Water Act violations in Colorado, Maryland, Alabama, Georgia and New York.



The violations include unpermitted discharge of storm water at 21 stone, gravel, sand, asphalt and ready-mix concrete facilities across the country.

The Lafarge Plant in Ravena is not involved in the settlement.



The  EPA touted the settlement as "The latest in a series of federal enforcement actions to address storm water violations from industrial facilities and construction sites around the country."

The violations range from permissible effluent limits to unpermitted storm water discharges, failures to apply for and implement the MSPG (Multi Sector General Permit) for industrial activities to record keeping problems.



The Ravena Plant, however, has all the proper State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) Permits that regulate industrial and storm water discharges both for continual operation of its existing plant and its ongoing US$300m modernisation project.



"Lafarge Ravena already maintains the proper permits for our facility as well as those for the new plant," said Lafarge-Ravena Environmental Manager John Reagan.

With an anticipated start-up by mid-2014, the new plant will have zero process of discharge waste waters.