Massachusetts AG Announced Consent Decree with Highway Construction Company Over Water Pollution

MAY 14, 2019

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a consent decree with a highway construction company that resolved allegations that the company violated the Clean Water Act and state water quality laws by discharging pollutants into the Housatonic River without required permits. As a result of the company’s improper storage of gravel, construction sand and other industrial materials directly above the banks of the river, stormwater runoff transported pollutants offsite and into the protected waterway. In a statement, AG Healey emphasized that stormwater-borne pollution is the “leading threat” to Massachusetts’ waterways and wetlands. Under the terms of the consent decree, the company must pay $25,000 for its violations of state water quality laws, $25,000 to a local nonprofit conservation organization, and $50,000 to fund the office’s ongoing monitoring activity and future environmental enforcement efforts.