CARBONDALE, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a proposed $5,000 administrative settlement with Old Forge Power Equipment over alleged industrial stormwater permit violations at its Carbondale, Pennsylvania, site.
New notice opens a public-comment opportunity
The EPA webpage and its three-page public notice are dated November 12, 2026. Comments are invited until December 22 under docket CWA-03-2027-0024. The respondent’s site is at 5 Brookside Road.
The newly announced development is the proposed settlement and opportunity for comment. It is not confirmation that a final order has taken effect or that the company has paid a penalty.
Allegation concerns industrial discharge authorisation
EPA alleges that an inspection on December 12, 2023 found the facility lacked National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System authorisation for stormwater associated with industrial activity. The notice describes evidence of discharge to Meredith Creek, a tributary of the Lackawanna River.
The allegation concerns permit coverage under the Clean Water Act. It does not establish a quantified pollution load, a particular contaminant concentration or a finding that a worker was injured. Those claims should not be inferred from the proposed dollar amount.
HSE Blog Analysis
For industrial environmental managers, discharge authorisation belongs in operational planning alongside physical runoff controls. A facility needs to know where water leaves its property, which activities can affect it, and which permission and monitoring arrangements apply. An attractive drainage layout is not evidence that those questions have been answered.
Useful assurance connects the permit register with site changes: new storage, changed equipment locations or altered drainage may need review. The practical approach in risk assessments that reflect actual work is relevant to checking that records match conditions on the ground. Wider health and safety management systems can help assign action owners across maintenance and environmental teams. These are general lessons, not additional allegations about this facility.
Source transparency: EPA’s dated webpage and notice PDF are the primary evidence. They are two documents from one organisation, not independent accounts. Broader searches did not identify independent reporting of this new notice. The PDF’s internal notice date, rather than its filename, establishes November 12 publication.
Featured image: original HSE Blog conceptual illustration, not an incident photograph or reconstruction. Depicted equipment and arrangements do not establish conditions at the actual location. Source reporting provides its own visual context; no third-party photograph has been reproduced.
Source
U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyepa.gov
