The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment, Division of Environmental Quality (“ADEQ”) and Custom Wood Recycling, Inc. (“CWR”) entered into a May 22nd Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of a Clean Water Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) Permit. See Case #: CAO-25-0101.
The CAO provides that CWR operates a wood product manufacturing facility located in Danville, Arkansas.
The facility is stated to have been issued an NPDES Permit. Discharges of treated wood chip wetting and stormwater runoff discharge to an unnamed tributary which eventually flows to the Arkansas River subject to the NPDES Permit.
CWR is stated to have operate the site beyond the expiration of the current Permit. ADEQ received a permit renewal application from CWR on March 26, 2025. However, the company was notified that its application was incomplete on March 31, 2025. To date, CWR has not submitted an administratively complete permit renewal application. Therefore, the CAO alleges that CWR has failed to submit an administratively complete permit renewal application at least 180 days before the expiration date of the NPDES Permit.
The CAO requires that CWR submit an administratively complete permit renewal application on or before the effectively date of the CAO. Further, it is required to comply with the existing NPDES Permit until either the effective date of the permit renewal or effective date of the permit termination.
A civil penalty of $1,000 is assessed, which could have been reduced to $500 if the document was signed and returned to ADEQ within 20 calendar days of its receipt.
A copy of the CAO can be found here.
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