Tuesday, September 02, 2008

CORPORATE POLLUTERS PAY STIFF FINES IN THE GREAT LAKES

1) An agreement has been reached with Republic Engineered Products Inc. on alleged Clean Air Act violations at the company's steel mill at 1807 E. 28th St., Lorain, Ohio. Republic has agreed to pay a $210,000 penalty.

2) EPA proposed a $114,740 penalty and filed an administrative complaint against Wolf Paving Co. Inc., 612 N. Sawyer Road, Oconomowoc, Wisconsin., for alleged Clean Air Act violations at an asphalt plant the company owned and operated until January 2007 at Highway 18 and County Road C in Genesee, Wisconsin.

3) The EPA and U.S. Department of Justice recently announced a $2,055,373 settlement for cleanup costs at the former IWI site, 7738 W. 61st Place, in Summit, Ill. A group of 23 companies will reimburse the government for cleanup work completed in October 2003. The late Glenn Wellman operated four companies at the 1.7-acre site from the late 1960s until the late 1990s: IWI Inc., IWI Industries, Itasco and Wellco. The business manufactured, cleaned and repaired stainless steel totes designed to store up to 600 gallons of liquid - typically flammable or corrosive materials such as adhesives, inks, oil and paint. The property was abandoned following Wellman's death in 1999. Oddly enough, a fire destroyed the former administrative offices in May 2002. A nine-month cleanup effort by a Chicago-based EPA Superfund team resulted in the safe disposal of 683 tons of contaminated soil, 568 tons of hazardous sludges, 568 drums and 52,300 gallons of hazardous liquids from a railroad tank car, sumps and totes at the site. The remaining structures on the property were razed.

4) Hercules Inc. had alleged clean-air violations at the company's chemical plant at 5228 N. Hopkins St., Milwaukee. A $22,500 penalty resolves EPA allegations that Hercules failed to comply with regulations requiring the facility to control leaks of hazardous air pollutants from its equipment.

EPA said Hercules had an uncapped open-ended line, had delayed repair of another line and had not tagged relevant equipment. The company has since demonstrated compliance with these requirements and improved its leak-management system.

5) Another agreement with Perham Resource Recovery Facility, a small municipal waste combustor in Perham, Minn., on alleged clean-air violations. This agreement, which includes a $15,950 penalty and a $110,760 environmental project, resolves EPA allegations that the facility exceeded emission standards for hydrogen chloride and mercury. The alleged violations were discovered through performance test reports submitted by the facility. The facility's environmental project consists of two improvements to its air pollution control system that will reduce emissions of hydrogen chloride and mercury. Hydrogen chloride, or hydrochloric acid, is corrosive to the eyes, skin and mucous membranes. Chronic exposure can cause chronic bronchitis and skin problems.

6) Bristol-Myers Squibb, an international pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed to reduce the output of ozone-depleting refrigerants at multiple industrial facilities around the country at a combined cost of $3.65 million to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice announced in early July. Under an agreement filed in federal court in Evansville, Ind., New York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb will be required to retire or retrofit 17 industrial refrigeration units by July 2009 at facilities in Mt. Vernon and Evansville, Ind.; Hopewell, N.J.; and Humacao and Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. The units are used in the facilities' industrial process or as air conditioners and currently use hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or HCFCs, as refrigerants.

I could keep going there are so many more to list...

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