
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 22, 1993                   TAG: 9312220148
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EPA PLUGS POTENTIAL GROUND-WATER POLLUTANTS

Larry Bernath figures it was the "Court Works" sign sitting prominently off U.S. 220 that caught the eye of a man from the Environmental Protection Agency who stopped by unannounced to investigate his business back in June.

Regardless of how the EPA tracked down his business - Court Works and Pave Maintenance in Boones Mill - Bernath was more than happy to comply when the agency ordered him to plug floor drains to diminish the potential of contaminating ground water.

"I support what they're asking me to do," said Bernath, who is closing off the drains and pumping out the company's septic system to comply with the order.

Engines that power blowers and other cleaning devices the company uses to restore parking lots and tennis courts sit in the same work area. Although the investigator did not find any evidence of contamination, he was concerned that engine oil could leak into the septic tank and mix with ground water, said Karen Johnson, chief of the Underground Injection Control Program at the EPA's regional office in Philadelphia.

The EPA ran a public notice in the Roanoke Times & World-News on Sunday informing readers about its investigation of Court Works.

"If anyone had ground-water problems, this is their opportunity to raise their hand and say, `Yes, I had problems,' " Johnson said.

So far, the EPA hasn't received any letters or calls regarding the notice, Johnson said.

Under the Underground Injection Control Program, the EPA offers grant funds to states to run their own programs, she said. For instance, water-control agencies in Delaware, Maryland and West Virginia enforce the federal Underground Injection Control Act. But Virginia's Water Control Board opted not to enforce the act, so the EPA does it.

Johnson said that the EPA didn't single out Court Works. EPA investigators go door-to-door in areas not served by public sewer systems, checking hospitals, auto repair shops and any other places that handle potentially hazardous wastes.

"We go into any area that is unsewered, figuring that businesses in those areas are using septics for waste management," she said. "Areas not on public water and sewer lines are more vulnerable to ground-water contamination."

by CNB