Central Valley Eden Environmental Defenders (EDEN), LLC filed a complaint in California against ACM Machining, Inc. Luis Alfred Balbach and Phillip McWilliams.
The complaint alleges violations of the Clean Water Act, reported Law Street Media.
ACM Machining, Inc. fabricates metal parts for the oil, gas and automotive industry at its facility in Rancho Cordova, California. According to documents filed with the Regional Water Board, Luis Alfred Balbach is the Chief Executive Officer for ACM Machining and Phillip McWilliams is the Legally Responsible Person for ACM Machining’s facility.
The complaint alleges that ACM Machining stores industrial materials outdoors that can be exposed to storm water, which can be eroded by wind and contaminate the surrounding watershed, reported Law Street Media.
Additionally, the complaint alleges that there is a failure to comply with procedural and substantive requirements of the California Industrial General Permit and CWA, which caused EDEN’s members to believe that the pollution has entered into the Facility’s Receiving Waters. Aesthetic and recreational interests are impacted, adds the complaint.
The plaintiff conducted an investigation which included a review of the Facility’s Notice of Intent to Comply with the Terms of the Industrial General Permit, Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan, aerial photography, Federal, State and local regulatory agency mapping tools. The investigation discovered that storm water from the company’s facility is collected and discharged through drainage areas which flow into the Lower Sacramento River.
According to the investigation, the storm water collected and discharged from the facility collects suspended sediment, dirt, metals and other pollutants from the areas where industrial material is stored outdoors.
On September 10, 2021, EDEN provided a notice of ACM Machining’s violations of the Clean Water Act to the defendants, the administrator of the EPA, the regional administrator for the EPA and the Executive Director of the State Water Resources Control Board as required under the Act.
According to Law Street Media, EDEN adds in the complaint that there was failure to create a Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plan, failure develop and implement an adequate monitoring and reporting program, submission of false annual reports to the regional water board, and failure to implement the best available treatment technologies.
