Ammo Giant CCI/Speer Polluted Snake River With Heavy Metals For 3 Years

For three years, stormwater running off one of the nation’s largest bullet producing plants (CCI/Speer’s Lewiston, Idaho facility) carried heavy metals and industrial pollutants into the Clearwater and Snake Rivers, two of the Pacific Northwest’s major waterways.
The contamination persisted unchecked from 2020 through 2023, in violation of the Clean Water Act, while the company repeatedly failed to implement, document, or report required safety measures.
When the EPA finally intervened, the outcome was emblematic of a familiar American story: a $76,213 fine and no admission of wrongdoing.

A Pattern of Negligence: How the System Failed

• Persistent Pollution: CCI/Speer’s Lewiston facility discharged stormwater containing industrial pollutants—including zinc—into the City of Lewiston’s stormwater system, which flows directly into the Clearwater and Snake Rivers.
• Repeated Benchmark Exceedances: The facility’s stormwater exceeded zinc pollution limits as early as the third quarter of 2020, but no corrective action was implemented.
• Ignored Mandates: Between 2021 and 2023, EPA found the company failed to install sufficient best management practices (“AIM measures”) even after multiple “triggering events” required them to do so.
• Recordkeeping Failures: The polluting corporation failed to document corrective actions, update its Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan, or maintain proper records for multiple reporting periods between 2020–2022.
• Sampling Negligence: Required monitoring for zinc, aluminum, nitrates, and sixteen polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)—chemicals linked to cancer—was missed entirely in multiple quarters.
• False or Late Reporting: The company repeatedly failed to submit required sampling data to the EPA’s online system on time, a core transparency requirement of the Clean Water Act.
• Hidden Outfalls: Inspectors found an unreported discharge point at the southwest corner of the site that was not listed in company documents.
• Visible Neglect: EPA inspectors documented trash, debris, sediment tracking, and uncovered metal containers where rain could wash pollutants directly into storm drains!

The Macro Consequences

The Environmental Toll

Every rainfall carried industrial runoff (laden with zinc, sediment, and hydrocarbons) into the Clearwater River, a tributary of the Snake River. These are navigable waters under federal law, essential for regional ecosystems, salmon habitats, and downstream communities.
Unchecked discharges of metals like zinc can kill aquatic invertebrates, disrupt fish reproduction, and accumulate in sediments, creating long-term ecological damage that persists for decades.

The Economic Fallout

The Clearwater and Snake Rivers underpin fishing, tourism, and local agriculture. Pollution that undermines water quality affects entire regional economies. Yet the penalty ($76,213) barely covers the cost of an industrial filter system, let alone the damage to public waterways.

The Public Health Crisis

EPA inspectors found evidence of open drums containing unknown substances and widespread exposure of metal storage areas to stormwater. This increases the risk of chemical contamination in local runoff, posing downstream risks to drinking water systems and wildlife alike.

The Erosion of Trust

Despite years of noncompliance, the company faced no admission of liability and continues operating under the same permits. This outcome reflects a system that too often allows evil corporate polluters to treat environmental penalties as a cost of doing business, not a deterrent.

The Price of Impunity

The EPA’s case against CCI/Speer ended not with a reckoning like what you may have been hoping for, but with a paper penalty and a mere promise to do better. The evil corporation signed an Administrative Order on Consent, agreeing to unspecified “compliance actions” without admitting fault!

The systemic lesson here is clear:

When a munitions manufacturer can discharge toxic runoff into two major rivers for years and walk away after paying a fine smaller than a single executive’s bonus, environmental enforcement has kinda lost its teeth.

The Clean Water Act was written to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” But until violations carry real consequences, not settlements structured for silence—that promise remains as murky as the stormwater leaving CCI/Speer’s gates.

The EPA’s source for this can be found by clicking on this link Microsoft Word – Federal Cartridge CCI final order.docx