On February 3, because Wal-Mart still had made no substantive response to
Sherri McGowan, a paralegal from Wal-Mart's legal division, called back to say after two days, Wal-Mart still had not determined who was in charge of this issue at their corporation.
After 7 days, no one from Wal-Mart had responded. The Riverkeeper® called Wal-Mart corporate offices in Arkansas on January 29, 2004 & requested Wal-Mart take immediate action to remove the toxic chemicals & fertilizers.
After the hearing, the Riverkeeper® spoke directly to Wal-Mart corporate representatives & requested that they contact our office to coordinate a plan for removing toxic chemicals stored in parking lots at all Wal-Marts in the Catawba River valley.
At the Belmont City Council Hearing on January 22, 2004 City Council members, more than 100 members of the public, Wal-Mart representatives from corporate headquarters & attorneys representing Wal-Mart were shown pictures of the toxic chemicals stockpiled at area stores. As a result of the Catawba Riverkeeper's testimony & investigation, the city of Belmont voted to prohibit Wal-Mart from storing chemicals out in the open where rainwater can wash them into the town's public water supply.
Results of the Catawba Riverkeeper® Investigation
"To be a serious statewide polluter at 11 stores gives Wal-Mart a very dubious distinction as an environmental lawbreaker. Stormwater contamination at every one of these sites creates a serious threat to water quality & public health. These contaminants may include fertilizer, pesticides, oil, & other dangerous pollutants that flow across Wal-Mart's parking lots into public water supplies. Creating this clear & present environmental danger is legally irresponsible & reprehensible."
The State of Connecticut & the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have also taken legal action against Wal-Mart for water quality violations. Richard J. Blumenthal, the Connecticut Attorney General prosecuting the water quality violations at Wal-Mart stores across Connecticut issued a statement saying,
In 2001, the Justice Department & the EPA brought enforcement action against Wal-Mart for Clean Water Act violations at 17 locations in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma & Massachusetts. Wal-Mart was fined $1 million in civil penalties as a result of this case.
Wal-Mart has a track record of violating the Clean Water Act
January 21, 2004 - Pallets of Toxic Lawn & Garden Products stored adjacent to a storm drain in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart Supercenter.
The Catawba River provides drinking water to 22 towns or cities in the 14 counties of the watershed. More than 1 million people rely on the river as the primary source of their drinking water.
Some of these products are organic in nature - like peat moss & pine nuggets. Others contain chemicals that that are known to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm & are extremely toxic to aquatic life. Wal-Mart's practice of stockpiling tons of these chemicals outdoors in the open results in chemicals washing into storm drains when it rains. Storm drain collections systems eventually discharge accumulated rainwater to streams & tributaries of the Catawba River or to the river itself.
(WARNING: Download takes at least 20 seconds with a DSL connection & may take much longer with a dial-up connection)
Download Power Point Presentation illustrating Wal-Mart's practice of storing toxic lawn & garden products in parking lots at Wal-Marts in North & South Carolina
On January 22, 2004, the Catawba Riverkeeper® prepared comments & testified as an expert witness in a conditional use permit hearing for a Wal-Mart Supercenter proposed for construction in Belmont, NC. In preparation for the hearing, the Riverkeeper® conducted an investigation at Wal-Mart stores north, south, east & west of the proposed Belmont Wal-Mart site. At those regional stores, we found without exception that Wal-Mart has a practice of storing tons of lawn & garden products on pallets outdoors in the parking lot.
former Catawba Riverkeeper®
Wal-Mart's Impact to Water Quality
Wal-Mart's Impact to Water Quality
Wal-Mart's Impact to Water Quality — Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation
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