Four national home builders, which are also major players in the Valley, recently agreed to pay $4.3 million in penalties for allegedly failing to prevent silt and debris from polluting storm water runoff at construction sites.

Violations by Centex Homes, KB Home, Pulte Homes and Richmond American Homes were found at sites in 34 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The agency identified 130 affected sites throughout Arizona, including subdivisions in Gilbert, Queen Creek, Phoenix and Tucson. Nevada, California, Florida and Texas were also heavily impacted.

As a result of the settlement, Centex, KB Home, Pulte and Richmond will pay $1.5 million, $1.2 million, $877,000 and $795,000, respectively. The builders also agreed to create company-wide compliance programs that surpass current regulatory requirements and put controls in place to help keep 1.2 billion pounds of sediment from polluting waterways, according to the agency.

The companies rank among the country’s top 10 builders — accounting for more than 124,000 home sales in 2006.

Just over 3,400 Valley homeowners were foreclosed on in May — the highest monthly total since at least January 2002.

The number of foreclosures has steadily climbed since November, according to a report by Glendale-based Information Market. More than 6,300 foreclosure notices were also recorded last month, up from 6,143 in April, the research data firm reported.

And with the economy in turmoil and the price of gas hitting new records nearly every day, it looks like foreclosures are likely to continue shooting upward in the near future.

Experts say the housing market may be starting to calm down a bit, but thousands of homeowners are still sliding into foreclosure across the nation.

In the first three months of the year,  .99 percent of outstanding loans entered the foreclosure process, compared with .58 percent the same time a year ago, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And 2.47 percent of all loans were already in the foreclosure process, compared with 1.28 percent in the first quarter 2007.

The rates were the highest recorded since 1979.

“The problems in California and Florida are extraordinary and they are the main drivers of the national trend,” said Jay Brinkmann, the association’s vice president of research and economics.

The number of people falling behind on loan payments also rose in the first quarter of this year. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate hit 6.35 percent,  up from 5.82 percent at the end of last year, the association reported.

The problem will likely grow increasingly worse in the coming year as Americans face $4-plus gas prices, rising food costs and the threat of layoffs amid a struggling economy.