Almost half of Colorado’s largest industries and city water districts have released more pollutants into creeks and rivers than allowed by their permits, a study released Thursday found.
Federal data showed that of 107 major companies and water districts, 52 reported exceeding the federal Clean Water Act limits, according to the report from Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center.
Colorado ranks 38th in the nation for the percentage of major municipalities and industries that did not meet water pollution standards from July 2003 to December 2004, the report said.
The state ranks 24th for the average percentage by which those facilities exceeded their limit – 213 percent.
“It might not stack up with the rest of the country in terms of shock value, but there are significant problems,” said Pam Kiely a spokeswoman for Environment Colorado. “There is no enforcement policy and no cause for remedy to fix this.”
Suncor Energy Inc., a petroleum refiner in Commerce City, exceeded its water pollution limit six times in 18 months.
The most serious was the release of oil and grease into Sand Creek at a quantity 115 percent more than allowed.
Suncor was cleaning its wastewater treatment system, a series of ponds and holding tanks, when it accidentally released the oil and grease, said Constance Walker, director of regulatory and governmental affairs.
The company quickly released an absorbent to soak up the sheen on the creek, she said.
“We had a very immediate and serious response to it,” Walker said. “We don’t believe there was environmental harm from these events.”
The company was not fined for any of its reported violations, Walker said.
The U.S. Air Force Academy exceeded its permit by releasing sewage at a concentration 1,190 percent higher than allowed, the report said.
About 1 million gallons of sewage leaked into ponds on the base over 42 days because of a blocked line to the treatment plant, 1st Lt. Uriah Orland said. The sewage did not pollute any public water source, he said.
City water districts that exceeded their permits included South Fort Collins Sanitation District, Clear Creek Valley Sanitation District, Aspen, Broomfield, Westminster, Longmont, Colorado Springs and Parker.
Environment Colorado’s report isn’t a “complete picture of the story” because it didn’t assess the impact of those discharges, said Steve Gunderson, director of the water quality control division at the state Department of Public Health and Environment.
The state sets individual release limits into waterways for every city or company and will force them to upgrade their system if necessary, he said.
“When they are egregious or something they’re not fixing, we’ll go after them with a hammer,” Gunderson said.
Environment Colorado wants more federal funding to enforce water pollution violations and is pushing for passage of the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act, which would expand protected waterways, Kiely said.
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-820-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
