SALT LAKE CITY UT (9/28/2016) – The Utah Department of Environmental Quality?s Division of Water
Quality (DWQ) issued a Notice of Violation and Compliance Order (NOV/CO) today to the North
Utah County Water Conservancy District (NUCWCD) for the August 20, 2016, sediment release
from Tibble Fork Dam that killed numerous fish and deposited large amounts of metal-laden
sediment into and along the American Fork River.

Violations include: 1) discharging a pollutant that harms public health, wildlife, fish, and aquatic
life; and 2) degrading water quality beyond state standards. The NOV also cited the NUCWCD
for failure to meet Army Corps of Engineers and DWQ permit conditions and to report the
incident to DWQ immediately.

?The release had a significant effect on a popular fishing area and an important water source for
local irrigation companies,? said DWQ Director Walt Baker. ?We still don?t know what the longterm
impacts to aquatic life and other uses of the river will be from the deposition of a significant
quantity of sediment in and along the river.?

Conditions that the NUCWCD must meet under the Compliance Order (CO) include:

? The initiation of all actions necessary to come into compliance with state water-quality
laws and rules

? An explanation of why a sediment release mitigation plan was not implemented at the time
of the release

? An explanation of the reasons behind the failure to notify federal, state, or local agencies
immediately after the sediment release

? A comprehensive description of the cleanup plan for the American Fork River drainage,
including how the polluted sediment will be removed and the steps that will be taken to
protect public health and rehabilitate wildlife habitat in the river

? Preparation of a comprehensive monitoring plan that will demonstrate that 1) the
sediments in the river are not harmful to public health, aquatic life and irrigation/secondary
water; and 2) the restoration efforts are effective

?We want to ensure that the water quality of the American Fork River is restored and that residual
sediments from the release don?t degrade the river or threaten public health or aquatic life in the
future,? explained Baker. ?Most importantly, we want to make sure that this kind of incident
doesn?t happen again.?

NUCWCD has thirty days to respond to the NOV and file a request for agency action. A request
for agency action initiates an administrative review process which may include informal
discussions to negotiate a settlement or the appointment of an administrative law judge to conduct
an adjudicative proceeding.

Updates, photos, and the NOV/CO can be found at tibble.utah.gov.

CONTACT: Donna Kemp Spangler Communications Director 801-536-4484 dspangler@utah.gov