Enforcement & Inspection Branch

How can I report environmental problems with waste management?

This Department is committed to responding to public concerns and complaints relating to waste management. If you wish to discuss environmental problems or concerns over waste management with ADEQ, you may notify the Department:

• Online - fill in the online concern/complaint form
• Via telephone at 1-800-EARTH11 or by calling the Hazardous Waste Division at 1-501-682-0833
• By email at Help-HazWaste@adeq.state.ar.us

What is the telephone number for reporting spills?

Notification of a spill or release is normally made to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) on Camp J. T. Robinson in North Little Rock (800-322-4012), which is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. When the ADEM receives information about a petroleum product or hazardous material release, it notifies one of the Emergency Response section members, one of whom is always on call. The manager and coordinator are both skilled in emergency response procedures, and immediately initiate actions to mitigate the effects of pollution and secure assistance from other agencies at all governmental levels and/or from private sources to control releases of contaminants. The Department does have an 800 telephone line, (800-327-8411 or 800-EARTH-11), which is monitored by the Emergency Response Section. This is only for routine, non-time sensitive matters such as public access to information about the Department programs and personnel. It also allows citizens to report any suspected violations of environmental laws, such as illegal dumping, or air or water releases which could endanger the ecosystem. Please note that this number is not for emergency or time-critical notifications because it is not attended 24 hours a day. Use the ADEM number (800-322-4012) for emergencies.

Notification of a spill or release can also be made to The National Response Center (NRC) which is the sole federal point of contact for reporting oil and chemical spills. Their hotline number is (800) 424-8802 and it operates 24 hours a day seven days a week.

How does the Hazardous Waste Division calculate Penalties?

HWD Enforcement staff calculates penalties for violations using a procedure based on APC&EC Regulation No. 7. Hazardous waste penalties are addressed specifically in Section 6 of Regulation 7 which authorizes civil penalties up to $25,000 per violation/per day. Section 9 of Regulation 7 details the factors to be used in calculating the penalty amount. Those factors include: 1) the seriousness of the noncompliance; 2) potential for harm resulting from the noncompliance; 3) avoidability of the noncompliance; 4) efforts to correct the noncompliance; 5) the violator's violation/management history; 6) whether the act was intentional or an omission; 7) whether the violator accrued an economic benefit or advantage as the result of the noncompliance.

How do I qualify to do a Supplemental Environmental Project in lieu of part of my penalty?

What is expedited enforcement?

When does a Consent Administrative Order become effective?

Most Consent Administrative Orders become effective 30 days after the public notice date unless otherwise noted in the Order.

I found hazardous substance contamination on my property. Do I have to report it to the state?

While State and Federal law require the reporting of new spills or releases of hazardous substances to the environment, Arkansas does not have a specific provision that requires the reporting of historic releases or contamination found on a particular property. However, during property transfer transactions, the new purchaser or lending institution may require that an environmental site assessment be conducted. Unless the land owner or prospective purchaser is seeking to participate in the Arkansas Voluntary Cleanup or Brownfields Program, there is no requirement to report or submit the results of such an assessment to the State.

If contamination is found, however, and no action is taken to address it, the landowner will likely be ineligible to take advantage of the Innocent Landowner defenses under CERCLA.

In many cases, financial and other lending institutions will require an environmental assessment on a specific property in the course of real estate transactions or use of the property as collateral for a loan or mortgage. In these cases the property owner may take advantage of the Arkansas Voluntary Cleanup Program to investigate and address the extent of contamination in cooperation with the ADEQ.

All fresh or new spills or releases of hazardous wastes to the environment must be reported to the ADEQ, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, the community's Local Emergency Planning Committee, and the National Emergency Response Center within 24 hours of detection of the release.

I'm performing a site assessment for someone who plans to purchase a piece of property. Can you send me the information you may have on any contaminated sites or other environmental problems that may be in that neighborhood?

The ADEQ staff does not perform individual file research for site assessments or surveys. However, our files are open for public access and review during normal business hours (8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday each week, except on designated State holidays) for anyone to research, peruse, and/or make copies. All of our files and material are available for review on demand, however the downside is that you may need to come to North Little Rock to review and/or copy them.

Our Central Records repository is located at 5301 Northshore Drive, in North Little Rock. To schedule an appointment to review any of our records, please contact Kelly Robinson at (501) 682-0916. Central Records is a repository principally for archived files; some documents may still be in use at the Department's main offices two blocks down the street. Access to files in active use, which would otherwise be available for immediate public review, will be made available for review as quickly as possible but not later than within three working days of the request.

The files are organized by facility, by environmental media, so that you can find all relevant data to a particular facility in one place.

Space is available for document review at the Central Records facility. Copying services are available to the public on a time available basis. Copies will be made of specifically requested documents only. A person assessing file materials must make a specific listing of each document they wish copied and give this list to the person assigned to assist them. (Forms will be provided to assist in this compilation.) In some instances, actual copying may not be available the same day the material is reviewed, however, copying requests will be processed with daily work loads as quickly as possible. Copying and item charges are as follows: each separate page at 20 cents each, if copying is done by Department staff, plus staff time charges for compilation or copying if in excess of one (1) hour at employees' hourly rate. If Department staff is not immediately available to provide copying, or if the requesting individual so desires, individuals may make their own copies using Department copiers at a cost of 10 cents per page.

Many out-of-town or out-of-state requestors have found it less expensive to hire someone from a local temporary service agency to come in and copy specified files using a rented copier. (Documents may not be removed from Central Files to be copied off-site.)