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Suit over oily water discharged by Green Oaks firm resolved with $16,000 civil penalty

A Green Oaks company will pay $16,000 to settle a lawsuit regarding violations of water pollution regulations brought by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.

The agreement, known as a consent order, between Kaplan Paving LLC and Attorney General Lisa Madigan was filed May 14 in Lake County circuit court. The penalty will be paid to the IEPA for use in the Environmental Protection Trust Fund.

The action resolves a suit brought Feb. 28, 2014, by the attorney general's office on behalf of the IEPA.

The suit contended Kaplan, which operates an asphalt paving and maintenance business at 14101 W. Lambs Lane, violated environmental provisions by discharging oily water into a drainage swale and into a tributary of a pond at the neighboring Lambs Farm.

According to the complaint, an IEPA inspector visited the plant Nov. 7, 2012, in response to a notification the company was discharging liquids into a storm sewer and drainage swale.

The inspector determined water with an oily material on the surface was in the catch basins. Also at the time, a valve of a cleaning truck malfunctioned, allowing the contents, which also had an oily sheen, to flow into a catch basin and ultimately into the swale.

According to the lawsuit, a similar oily sheen was noted in stormwater, water discharging from a pipe and in runoff during two other inspections in the next year.

Kaplan was cited for violating five provisions of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and Illinois Pollution Control Board regulations.

The company made renovations to the facility that included improvements to the sanitary sewer system, upgrading the stormwater management and grading the property and constructing on-site storage bins with concrete liners, according to Annie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

There were no fines beyond the $16,000 in the consent order, she added.

@dhmickzawislak

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