EPA cracks down on Suffolk Downs over pollutant release
Orders cuts in pollutants
The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Suffolk Downs to reduce the amount of pollutants the horse racing track discharges into a Boston Harbor tributary after finding the track in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.
The agency issued the order after finding horse manure, urine, bedding material, and stable wash water from the East Boston track entering Sales Creek through storm water runoff, the EPA announced in a statement.
Robert Varney, the regional administrator for the EPA's New England Office, said in a statement that the action reflects the administration's commitment to keeping a clean and healthy environment and improving water quality in the Charles River, Boston Harbor, and the Mystic River.
"We are taking the necessary steps to comply with the order," Chip Tuttle, chief operating officer at Suffolk Downs, said in an e-mail late last night.
The administrative order was issued to Sterling Suffolk Racecourse LLC, which operates the track, requiring it to immediately "make all practicable efforts" to stop discharging pollutants into its storm drain system and Sales Creek.
The track must also routinely inspect its facilities for discharges into the water and neighboring wetlands, and must collect samples from the track's outfalls.
EPA inspections of the track's facilities found that horse and stable wash water were discharged repeatedly into the facility's storm drain during dry weather, and inspectors saw storm water contaminated with manure, as well as "highly turbid, brown runoff" being discharged into Sales Creek, according to the statement. Samples showed bacterial and solid waste being discharged into Sales Creek during both dry and wet weather.
Suffolk Downs will also have to apply for an appropriate discharge permit.
Because more than 500 horses have been stabled at the facility for more than 45 days a year, and because the track discharges into the creek and wetlands, the EPA categorized Suffolk Downs as a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation, required to have a special discharge permit. 