Release Date: 04/02/2013

Contact Information: Ben Washburn, 913-551-7364, washburn.ben@epa.gov

(Lenexa, Kan., April 2, 2013) – Collis Inc, a manufacturer of metal racks and shelving brackets for refrigerators, has agreed to pay a $31,379 administrative civil penalty to settle several Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations in Clinton, Iowa.

In addition to paying the civil penalty, the company will spend a minimum of $91,809 to replace high-mercury fluorescent fixtures with low-mercury fixtures and bulbs, and complete a project to reduce the generation of hazardous solvent waste as part of a Supplemental Environmental Project.

According to an administrative complaint filed by EPA Region 7 in Lenexa, Kan., EPA representatives conducted a compliance evaluation inspection at the company’s Clinton, Iowa, facility in June 2010, and noted several RCRA violations. RCRA regulates the storage, handling, and labeling of hazardous waste.

“The penalty and injunctive relief required by this agreement remind not just Collis, but all businesses subject to RCRA, that fulfilling environmental-protection duties is part of their job,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “The Supplemental Environmental Project is another element of the case that will help to further protect human health and the environment for the people of Clinton.”

The violations at Collis included failure to perform a hazardous waste determination, storage of hazardous waste without a RCRA permit, and failure to manage used oil and universal waste in accordance with applicable regulations. Collis is still addressing requirements from a RCRA Corrective Action Order filed by EPA in 1993.

By agreeing to the settlement with EPA, Collis Inc has certified that it is now in compliance with all requirements of the RCRA regulations.

RCRA training is a good way to ensure that these types of violations don’t happen to you.  Contact me to schedule the training you need in the format (Public Seminar, Onsite, Web-Based, or Self-Guided) of your choice.

EPA News Release (Region 7): Teva Pharmaceuticals USA to Pay $2.25M Civil Penalty for Air, Water, and Hazardous Waste Violations at Mexico, Mo., Facility
03/14/2013

(Lenexa, Kan., March 14, 2013) – Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. has agreed to pay a $2.25 million civil penalty to settle alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA), Clean Water Act (CWA), Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), and the State of Missouri’s Air Conservation Law, Clean Water Law, and Hazardous Waste Management Law at the company’s facility in Mexico, Mo., the Justice Department, EPA and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced today.

 A 2007 inspection of the Missouri facility revealed violations of the CAA. The violations included failure to control emissions of hazardous air pollutants from wastewater and failure to comply with regulations designed to prevent leaks of air pollutants from equipment at the facility.

 In 2007, an EPA inspection found the Teva facility was discharging pollutants above permitted levels established by the City of Mexico’s Pretreatment Program, in violation of the CWA. In some cases, these pollutants were causing interference with the city’s ability to treat its domestic sewage, leading to pollutant discharges into the Salt River. A 2008 inspection found that Teva was discharging a green effluent that ultimately discolored a portion of the Salt River in November and December 2008.

 In 2009, an inspection by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources uncovered various RCRA violations. These violations included failure to determine if waste was hazardous, illegal storage of hazardous waste, failure to comply with labeling requirements, and offering hazardous waste for transport without a manifest.

 “This settlement penalizes Teva for multiple violations of U.S. environmental laws when it allowed excess emissions of hazardous air pollutants from Teva’s wastewater treatment facility and excess discharges of pollutants into the City of Mexico, Missouri’s wastewater treatment facility,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, the Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The agreement is protective of human health and the environment because it requires Teva to offset its excess emissions, install modern equipment that will increase the recovery and reuse of hazardous pollutants and reduce air emissions, as well as enhance its leak prevention capability.”

 “With numerous violations over a period of years, Teva’s actions resulted in significant environmental damage to the air and water,” said EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks. “The penalty and injunctive relief required by this agreement send a strong message to Teva and others that businesses must comply with environmental laws.”

 As a result of this Consent Decree, Teva has certified that it is in full compliance with CAA, CWA and RCRA regulations.

US EPA News Release:

PHILADELPHIA (Jan. 22, 2013) — Phillips 66 Company has agreed to pay a $50,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at its former refinery located in Trainer, Pa., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

Phillips 66 Company is the successor to ConocoPhillips Corporation, which owned the refinery at 4104 Post Rd., Trainer, Pa. The facility was sold to Monroe Energy, a subsidiary of Delta Airlines in 2012.

EPA cited the company for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA is designed to protect public health and the environment, and avoid costly cleanups, by requiring the safe, environmentally sound storage and disposal of hazardous waste.

Following two inspections in 2011 and 2012 by EPA and subsequent requests for information, EPA cited Phillips 66 for RCRA violations involving hazardous waste stored at the facility, including oil refinery hydrocarbon waste, chromium waste, heavy metal waste from batteries, and mercury waste from fluorescent bulbs.

The alleged violations included operating a hazardous waste treatment, storage or disposal facility without a permit, failure to keep several hazardous waste containers closed except when necessary to add or remove waste, failure to update the company’s contingency plan following a change in emergency coordinators, failure to maintain hazardous waste management personnel designations and job descriptions, and failure to properly manage universal waste batteries and waste lamps.

The settlement penalty reflects the company’s compliance efforts, and its cooperation with EPA in the resolution of this matter. As part of the settlement, Phillips 66 Company has neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.

For more information about hazardous waste and RCRA, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/index.htm.

By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com

Following several years of violating federal environmental regulations with its Frisco lead-acid battery recycling plant, Exide Technologies has agreed to pay a $225,000 fine to the Environmental Protection Agency.

The fine comes as the result of violations the agency found at the Frisco plant in regards to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act following December 2009 and December 2010 inspections. Exide has paid similar fines for violating other federal laws in recent years.

Violations were found regarding the spread of dust, handling of waste and maintenance of required equipment, among other issues.

One such violation, according to the settlement, occurred when “EPA [officials] collected evidence during the 2009 and 2010 facility inspections showing that the hood installed at the reverberatory furnace was a partial hood enclosure that has openings which allow fugitive emissions to escape.”

Another violation the EPA states its officials witnessed included Exide vehicles failing to use a vehicle wash after visiting the plant’s raw materials storage building. The settlement agreement also claims Exide was unable to provide records for several safety and health requirements, such as a full plan for preventing the spread of dust emissions.

As part of the settlement, Exide will continue testing samples of solid waste according to guidelines given by the EPA. The company is also required to continue working with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for the remediation of contaminated land.

Exide has 30 days from the settlement’s Dec. 18 filing to pay the $225,000 fine.

The Frisco-based battery recycling plant is currently in the process of being demolished following an agreement with the city. Part of that process includes TCEQ-overseen decontamination of the land the plant resides on as well as the proper disposal and cleaning of facilities and equipment prior to demolition.

Exide is currently accepting questions regarding the plant’s closure at its website. Earlier this week, the company posted an action plan regarding the landfill on the site which is home to hazardous materials.

According to that plan, however, Exide will retreat the hazardous materials currently in the landfill until analysis finds the materials to be in compliance with federal standards. After the materials comply with federal standards, the materials will be placed back in the landfill.

The company’s website is currently accepting questions on the landfill action plan. To read the plan or submit a question, click here.

Release Date: 11/26/2012

Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – Nov. 26, 2012) – A New Haven, Conn. company that makes door hardware has agreed to pay $39,705 to settle EPA’s claims that it violated state and federal hazardous waste laws.

The Sargent Manufacturing Company violated state hazardous waste laws as well as the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).  These laws are designed to help protect public health and the environment by promoting the proper management of hazardous wastes.

The complaint grew out of an inspection of the facility in March 2011 by EPA. Sargent violated RCRA by failing to: have an adequate hazardous waste training program, close containers of hazardous waste, maintain adequate aisle space between containers of hazardous waste, mark containers with the date that accumulation of hazardous waste began, update and submit a revised contingency plan to local authorities, and otherwise manage hazardous waste in accordance with the requirements.

Sargent’s failure to have an adequate hazardous waste training program increased the likelihood that wastes generated may not be properly managed and that Sargent personnel may not be able to adequately coordinate all emergency response measures in the event of emergency.

After the inspection, Sargent brought its facility into compliance with state and federal waste management laws. 

More information:  Enforcing hazardous waste laws in New England(http://www.epa.gov/region1/enforcement/waste/index.html)

(Lenexa, Kan., Nov. 5, 2012) – Behlen Manufacturing Company, an agricultural and industrial product manufacturer, has agreed to pay a $59,996 administrative civil penalty to settle a series of Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations in Columbus, Neb.

In addition to paying the civil penalty, the company will spend a minimum of $75,578 to install pollution reducing equipment as part of a supplemental environmental project.

According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., EPA representatives conducted a compliance evaluation inspection at the company’s Columbus facility in October 2009, and noted several RCRA violations. RCRA regulates the storage, handling, and labeling of hazardous waste.

“Behlen Manufacturing was cooperative throughout the negotiation process,” EPA Region 7 Administrator Karl Brooks said. “The innovative environmental project that Behlen will complete will turn wastes into a useful product and is an example of environmental stewardship for similar companies to follow.”

The violations at Behlen Manufacturing included failure to perform a hazardous waste determination, operating a hazardous waste storage facility without a RCRA permit, and failure to comply with universal waste requirements.

By agreeing to the settlement with EPA, Behlen Manufacturing Company has certified that it is now in compliance with all requirements of the RCRA regulations.

This article documents the fines paid by Behlen, but it can’t account for the loss to its good name by publicity of this sort.  Nor does it account for lawyer fees (you know lawyers were involved).  And yet, the cost for compliance is so low.  What would it take to prevent these violations from occurring?  Using the above news release as a guide, I say a few hours of documenting a hazardous waste determination, staying on top of hazardous waste accumulation dates through weekly inspections, and proper labeling and handling of universal waste.  I cover all of these topics, and a lot more, in my RCRA training (on-site or public workshops).  Contact me for a free consultation on your training needs and don’t let the next news release be about your company.

For more information about hazardous waste and RCRA, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/index.htm.

 PHILADELPHIA (October 2, 2012) — Olson Wire Products Co. has agreed to pay a $80,000 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations at its manufacturing facility located at 4100 Benson Ave., in Baltimore, Md., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

EPA cited Olson Wire, which manufactures steel wire shelving and fabricated wire products, for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA is designed to protect public health and the environment, and avoid costly cleanups, by requiring the safe, environmentally sound storage and disposal of hazardous waste.

Following an inspection by on May 25, 2011 EPA cited the company for violations of federally authorized state regulations involving hazardous waste stored at the facility, including wastewater treatment sludge from the electroplating operations, spent lead anode rods from plating processes and used aerosol cans containing an enamel-based product that is sprayed onto metal parts in preparation for powder coating.

The alleged violations included the failure to make required hazardous waste determinations, storage of hazardous waste for periods greater than 90 days without a permit, failure to properly label and keep containers of hazardous waste closed during storage, offering hazardous waste for off-site transport and disposal without preparing approved manifest forms and through parties not authorized to transport or receive hazardous waste, failure to maintain training records of personnel having hazardous waste management responsibilities and failing to prepare and submit a biennial report concerning hazardous waste activities at the facility in calendar year 2009.

             The settlement penalty reflects the company’s compliance efforts, and its cooperation with EPA in the resolution of this matter. As part of the settlement, Olsen Wire has neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations, but has certified its compliance with applicable RCRA requirements.

For more information about hazardous waste and RCRA, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/index.htm.

Release Date: 04/17/2012

Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – April 17, 2012) – The owner and operator of a hazardous waste management facility in Providence, R.I. face an EPA penalty for violating federal and state hazardous waste laws.

According to the recent complaint filed by EPA’s New England office, Northland Environmental and PSC Environmental Services (operator and owner of the facility, respectively) violated state and federal hazardous waste laws, as well as their state issued permit to operate a commercial hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste treatment, storage and transfer facility located on Allens Avenue in Providence.

The facility is located in a densely populated Environmental Justice (EJ) area of Providence.  EPA considers it an EJ area due to the high proportion of minority and low-income population, which historically has had higher exposure to pollutants than other segments of the population.

In its complaint, EPA details 16 counts of hazardous waste management violations at the facility.  The most significant violations were that the companies failed to properly determine that some of the wastes managed and shipped off site as non-hazardous wastes, were in fact, hazardous. This resulted in hazardous wastes being disposed of at facilities not designed or permitted to handle hazardous wastes. In addition, Northland Environmental and PSC Environmental Services failed to properly list all hazardous waste constituents on required notification and shipping documents. These violations could result in hazardous wastes not being properly managed and treated by the final disposal facilities. Moreover, many incompatible hazardous wastes were stored next to one another without adequate means of separation or protection, potentially resulting in fires or explosions.

PSC Environmental Services owns and Northland Environmental operates the facility, which accepts and handles a variety of wastes, including acids, alkalis, flammable wastes, water reactive wastes, cyanides, sulfides, oxidizers, toxic wastes, oily wastes, photochemical wastes and laboratory packs. Hazardous and non-hazardous wastes are received at the facility, stored and or consolidated and then shipped off site for treatment and/or disposal. The affiliated companies face a penalty of up to $37,500 per violation per day.