OMG Partners of Turlock, Calif. Penalized $140,000 for Fuel Spill that Reached San Francisco Bay

Published: 12 July 2024
Categories: EPA Energy

RSS feed source: EPA--Energy

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a proposed settlement with OMG Partners of Turlock, Calif. to resolve claims of Clean Water Act violations after one of the company’s tanker trucks overturned and a fuel product spilled into the roadway, Laguna Creek, Coyote Creek, and the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. The fuel reached the San Francisco Bay. The proposed settlement requires OMG Partners to pay a civil penalty of $140,000.

“Spilled fuel can cause severe harm to our waters, wildlife and ecosystems, so it’s imperative that it be transported in a safe manner,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “With this proposed settlement, EPA is showing our commitment to holding accountable entities that pollute waterways in the San Francisco Bay watershed.”

On Dec. 24, 2021, one of OMG Partners’ trucks was transporting 8,500 gallons of unleaded gasoline when it overturned

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CISA Red Team’s Operations Against a Federal Civilian Executive Branch Organization Highlights the Necessity of Defense-in-Depth

Published: 9 July 2024
Categories: US-Computer Emergency Readiness Team

RSS feed source: EPA--Energy

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

In early 2023, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) conducted a SILENTSHIELD red team assessment against a Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) organization. During SILENTSHIELD assessments, the red team first performs a no-notice, long-term simulation of nation-state cyber operations. The team mimics the techniques, tradecraft, and behaviors of sophisticated threat actors and measures the potential dwell time actors have on a network, providing a realistic assessment of the organization’s security posture. Then, the team works directly with the organization’s network defenders, system administrators, and other technical staff to address strengths and weaknesses found during the assessment. The team’s goal is to assist the organization with refining their detection, response, and hunt capabilities—particularly hunting unknown threats.

In coordination with the assessed organization, CISA is releasing this Cybersecurity Advisory (CSA) detailing the red team’s activity and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs); associated network defense activity; and lessons learned to provide network defenders with recommendations for improving their organization’s detection capabilities and cyber posture.

During the first phase, the SILENTSHIELD team gained initial access by exploiting a known vulnerability in an unpatched web server in the victim’s Solaris enclave. Although the team fully compromised the enclave, they were unable to move into the Windows portion of the network due to a lack of credentials. In a parallel effort, the team gained access

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EPA Issues Cleanup Plan for Shaffer Equipment Superfund Site in Minden, West Virginia

Published: 9 July 2024
Categories: EPA Air Quality

RSS feed source: EPA--Energy

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a Record of Decision (ROD) that addresses a source of contaminated soil at the former Shaffer Equipment Company (SEC) property in Minden, West Virginia. Today’s ROD, which applies to the polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) located at the SEC property at the Shaffer Equipment/Arbuckle Creek Area Superfund Site (Site), lays out in detail why EPA has concluded that the proposed plan and selected cleanup method will meet the needs of the project.

“EPA’s Record of Decision is a significant step forward in protecting the community and waterway from the threat of contaminants like PCBs, and there is still more work to be done,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Administrator Adam Ortiz. “EPA will continue to investigate and study the remaining portions of the site and will work with our partners at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to prepare for the cleanup of the property.”

The site is comprised of the SEC property, Arbuckle Creek sediments, and a handful of other areas where related contamination may be located. Site soils and sediment were historically contaminated with PCBs, which were used by the Shaffer Equipment Company from 1970 to 1984 to manufacture electrical substations for the local coal mining industry.

The components of the SEC property cleanup plan include the excavation, removal, and disposal of the contaminated soil

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