News Release
Contact Information: Cecillea Pond-Mayo / 501.682.2287 / pond-mayo@adeq.state.ar.us
FOR RELEASE: December 14, 2010
ADEQ SEEKS INJUNCTION AND $250,000 FINE
AGAINST MINING OPERATION
The Arkansas
Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has filed a Complaint against
Bluebird Sand, LLC of Izard County for violations of the Arkansas Pollution
Control Act. The Complaint was filed
after the ADEQ found the company polluted a tributary to the
The Complaint requests a preliminary injunction to order the company to stop all operations until it has the proper permits to discharge its wastewater into the waters of the state. The Complaint, filed today in circuit court, also requests a civil penalty of $250,000 for causing pollution to waters of the state.
Bluebird
Sand, LLC is a sand mining and processing facility located on an 11 acre site
just north of
On November 15, 2010, an ADEQ inspector responded to a citizen’s complaint. The inspector found that a levee failed at one of Bluebird’s ponds. The inspector also found the company’s industrial wastewater was discharged into East Lafferty Creek resulting in increased
turbidity and a deposit of
visible sediment. East Lafferty Creek is a tributary of the
While the ADEQ was preparing an enforcement action for the November 15 violation, the agency received a second complaint about another release from Bluebird’s facility. On December 5, an ADEQ inspector found Bluebird had again discharged wastewater from its facility to East Lafferty Creek resulting in a noticeable change in appearance to the creek, increased turbidity, and a fish kill. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission counted 59 dead fish.
The
case has been filed in the
.