A contractor that the Utah Division of Water Quality says discharged more than 518,000 gallons of contaminated water from the Treasure Mountain Junior High demolition site into a nearby creek without getting required permits has submitted a report documenting its groundwater management at the locat ion. Hogan and Associates Construction Inc.’s report includes details on dewatering activities, which is the removal of water from a location, and a draft sediment sampling and analysis plan to determine remediation needs.  In addition, Hogan partnered with other companies to develop a treatment plan for groundwater contaminated with metals such as arsenic, copper, zinc and lead. The Oct. 16 report responds to a notice of violation and compliance order the division issued last month. The Centerville contractor said submitting the report “does not admit the facts, determinations or violations asserted in the NOV/CO, and Hogan reserves all rights, defenses and claims under the Utah Water Quality Act, the Water Quality Rules, and applicable law, including the right to comment on any proposed penalty.”  The Park Record obtained the document through a Utah Government Records Access and Management Act, or GRAMA, request. Division of Water Quality Director Candice Hasenyager determined Hogan violated state code by discharging pollutants into state waters and making a discharge without first securing a permit. Her order was issued after an investigation that took nearly a year. The Park City School District owns the site, and Hogan operates the project to build new sports facilities. The division’s order requires the contractor to correct all violations;,cease all actions that violate the Utah Water Quality Act, submit a detailed description of all discharges since the project began, provide analytical data on water quality samples, and submit a sediment sampling plan. Each violation could be subject to a civil penalty up to $10,000 per day. Before starting initial dewatering activities, Hogan collected groundwater samples in August 2025 from an excavation trench and had them tested in a laboratory. The results showed the water was not hazardous, according to the contractor’s response. However, the school district said in a report that the non-hazardous label does not necessarily mean the water meets drinking water standards or isn’t contaminated. Instead, the label meant the groundwater could be disposed of through “standard construction dewatering pathways.” The Division of Water Quality says in its order that the Silver Creek and its tributaries “are impaired for both arsenic and lead” and discharges from the project are unauthorized without the appropriate permit coverage.  The sampling results that were provided in August to Hogan “clearly indicate the groundwater being dewatered was not uncontaminated,” the division’s order says. In October 2025, RR Environmental, a subcontractor of the Park City School District, notified Hogan and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, among other agencies, about a discovered “illicit discharge” from the project site into Silver Creek on the east side of the school. That prompted the department to launch an investigation. A pump activity report shows estimated discharges of contaminated groundwater to a storm drain between Sept. 9 and Oct. 8, 2025, of 492,312 gallons and an estimated 26,496 gallons to the Pace Homer Ditch on Oct. 10, 2025, the Division of Water Quality says.  But Hogan says the initial noncompliance report about the Pace Homer Ditch identified 7,200 gallons of discharge.  The contractor also disputes that discharges continued after Oct. 10, 2025, at the Pace Homer Ditch. A mistake in the discharge log, which was corrected, shows no dewatering was taking place, the response says. Dewatering activities did take place on Dec. 1 and 3 due to additional work that was required, but water did not leave the project site and was not discharged to a storm drain, sanitary sewer, surface water, or other offsite conveyance.  “The water was land-applied onsite and allowed to reinfiltrate directly into the adjacent ground,” Hogan says. At that time, Hogan requested RMEC Environmental provide onsite testing support and additional management and treatment of site groundwater. The two companies joined EcoCompliance Technologies and Earth Renewal to come up with the treatment plan and complete the chemical treatment, the Hogan response says.  The Park City School District had already received a non-compliance advisory related to a different reported environmental issue on the property. The DEQ fined the district and one of its third-party contractors, Cripple Creek Consulting and Environment, for violating air quality standards by failing to update its asbestos management plan.  The post Contractor reports on water discharge without admitting illegal dumping at Treasure Mountain Junior High appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less