COLUMBIA - CSG Holdings, former operator of Columbia Sand and Gravel in Columbia, paid $150,000 to resolve EPA claims it allowed polluted stormwater and process water to flow into the nearby Connecticut River.

The EPA, in a news release issued Thursday, alleged CSG Holdings discharged process waste waters and stormwater from the facility, located on the banks of the Connecticut River, without proper permits and violated the federal Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations by failing to prepare and implement a spill prevention, control and countermeasure plan.

The discharged stormwater contained high levels of total suspended solids, a pollutant that can adversely affect water quality and stress aquatic animals and plants, the EPA said in the release.

The federal Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of process waste waters without a permit and requires industrial facilities, such as sand and gravel plants, to have controls in place to minimize pollutants from being discharged with stormwater.