"This fine does not match the crime," said Peppersauce resident Veronica Baros in the release. "Although we applaud the health department's efforts to right a serious environmental wrong, the fine does not fit the crime."
The neighborhoods and the coalition have asked the state health department to reconsider the fine and increase it.
"Seven years without a required pollution permit and only a $10,500 fine? Peppersauce Bottoms residents deserve better," said Margaret Montano, Southern Colorado director for the coalition. "This fine is pocket change for a large company like L.B. Foster and does not come close to equaling the hardships the neighbors have endured due to L.B. Foster's reckless business practices."
The coalition argued that L.B. Foster failed to get a stormwater permit before opening its prefabricated track facility in the neighborhood, nor did it provide a stormwater management plan or properly store creosote-soaked railroad ties on the property.
The issue with L.B. Foster came to light following an Aug. 26, 2006, storm that overwhelmed the city's existing flood control infrastructure and flooded the tiny village just north of the Midtown Shopping Center.
But residents have said they have been fighting Foster since it opened seven years ago.
L.B. Foster operates a separate plant that manufactures railroad switches at the Pueblo Memorial Airport Industrial Park. |
