GSP Management Company
Frank Perano and a series of his corporations and related entities own, operate, and/or manage mobile home parks in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia. After a joint multi-year investigation, EPA and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) found evidence of more than 4,300 Clean Water Act (CWA) violations at 15 mobile home parks in Pennsylvania where the defendants treat waste water, and more than 900 Safe Drinking Water Act violations at 30 mobile home parks also in Pennsylvania.
- Overview of Municipality
- Violations
- Injunctive Relief
- Civil Penalty
- State Partners
- Comment Period
- Contact
Overview of Municipality
GSP Management Company, Frank Perano, et al. (GSP) own and operate seventy-three mobile home parks, seventy in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, two in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and one in the State of Delaware. The mobile home parks range in size from 100 to 400 units. Seventeen of the mobile home parks have National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitted wastewater treatment plants and thirty-one of the facilities are deemed public water systems.
Violations
EPA cited two mobile home parks, Cedar Manor and Pleasant Hills, for exceedance of discharge limits, failing to properly operate and maintain the facility under the NPDES permit and for allowing bypasses not authorized by the permit. Additionally, GSP was cited for failure to comply with information requests issued under the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA).
During negotiations, GSP disclosed a large number of additional violations at all of their 73 mobile home parks, including approximately 4,300 CWA violations (including flow violations, discharge monitoring report violations, and operation and maintenance violations) and approximately 400 SDWA violations (including failure to report monitoring results, failure to properly sample, maximum contaminant level exceedances, and improper operation and maintenance of the public water system facilities).
Injunctive Relief
The total estimated value of the injunctive relief required under the Consent Decree is between $7 and $10 million. Given the widespread violations, corporate wide relief was proposed to cover all 73 mobile home parks.
The injunctive relief outlined in the Consent Decree requires GSP to develop an integrated environmental system (EMS), perform environmental audits of the treatment works and drinking water system for each facility, and take corrective actions for any deficiencies found at each facility. Details of the injunctive relief are summarized below.
Environmental Management System (EMS)
GSP will hire an EMS consultant to complete an initial review and evaluation at each of its facilities to develop an integrated EMS. The EMS at a minimum shall include:
- Procedure for root cause analysis
- Environmental record keeping procedures for each facility
- Procedure for amending and updating maps and facility diagrams List identifying all past and current contractors with environmental compliance related responsibilities
- Procedure to ensure contractor compliance with all applicable environmental laws, rules, regulations, and permit conditions.
Environmental Audits and Inspections
GSP will hire a third party consultant to conduct audits of the treatment works, treatment systems, collection and conveyance system and drinking water system for each mobile home park to evaluate whether the systems in place are adequate to ensure and maintain environmental compliance. The consultant will prepare an environmental audit report (EA report) for each mobile home park. GSP will implement and complete all corrective measures consistent with the schedule contained in each EA report. Additionally, GSP will conduct supplemental inspections at least once a month for each NPDES permitted treatment works, treatment system and associated collection and conveyance system and each drinking water system.
Discharge Monitoring Report (DMR) Sample Notification and Violation Tracking
GSP will implement a system that provides for electronic notification within 24 hours of all DMR sample results to the manager responsible for environmental compliance at the facility. Effluent Limit Violation Response GSP will implement a response plan for effluent limit violations, which shall provide for investigation and implementation of actions necessary to achieve compliance with the applicable NPDES permit limits. The response plan will provide for daily and monthly violation responses.
Training
GSP will provide and require annual training for all individuals with environmental responsibilities including CWA and SDWA compliance as well as requirements to comply with obligations under the consent decree.
Civil Penalty
GSP will pay a civil penalty totaling $1,339,000. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania will receive $89,000 for state administrative enforcement actions, which were stayed during the negotiation of the consent decree. The remaining $1,250,000 will be split evenly between the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, each receiving $625,000.
State Partners
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania joined EPA in this consent decree.
Comment Period
The settlement, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. Information on submitting comment is available at the Department of Justice website.
Contact
Ben Bahk
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Enforcement
1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Mail Code 2243A
Washington, DC 20460
(202)564-4293
Ben Bahk (bahk.benjamin@epa.gov)