Four companies in Washington will spend over $500,000 because when U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigators came knocking, they weren’t happy that these companies did not report their chemicals properly. According to the EPA, these were serious violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).
#1. What Went Wrong
A California-based poultry company with a facility in Kelso allegedly did not meet the deadline in 2013 for reporting chemicals stored at its facility. The company apparently failed to report that it stored over 500 lbs each of ammonia and sulfuric acid, and over 10,000 lbs each of carbon dioxide, sodium hydroxide solution, ferric chloride solution, lead, and nitrogen. The company uses ammonia for refrigeration and the other chemicals for processing chickens, sanitizing, and wastewater treatment.
The Fine and the Fix
The company submitted the reports and paid a $112,500 fine. That’s a lot of chicken feed.
#2. What Went Wrong
A wholesale seafood distributor in Sumner allegedly failed to report from 2009 to 2013 that it stored over 500 lbs each of ammonia and sulfuric acid at the facility. The facility uses ammonia in its refrigeration system and sulfuric acid is used in the wastewater treatment plant.
The Fine and the Fix
The company was fined $16,575. Doesn’t sound like much when you say it fast, but the hurt didn’t stop with the fine. The company will also spend $87,500 to upgrade its ammonia monitoring system.
#3. What Went Wrong
A Pasco, Washington wholesale warehouse company that distributes agricultural pesticides and chemicals went awry of EPCRA for 2 years at three of its facilities. According to the EPA, the company failed to report significant quantities of over 80 different chemicals stored in their facilities. This included storage of over 990 times the reporting threshold of anhydrous ammonia at the company’s first facility, over 330 times the reporting threshold of anhydrous ammonia at its second facility, and over 4,650 times the reporting threshold of the herbicide paraquat dichloride at its third facility.
The Fine and the Fix
The company was hit with a whopping $200,000 fine.
#4. What Went Wrong
A large farm in Roy, Washington, allegedly failed to report 8,800 lbs of anhydrous ammonia and 2,550 lbs of sulfuric acid at its facility, for which the reporting threshold is 500 lbs. In addition, the company stored over 67,000 lbs of propane and over 72,000 lbs of diesel fuel at its facility, for which the reporting threshold is 10,000 lbs.
The farm uses anhydrous ammonia for refrigeration, propane for heating, and sulfuric acid for processing and cleaning in its chicken processing operations.
The Fine and the Fix
The company paid a $15,625 fine. That was not the end of it, however. In addition, the company will spend $96,000 in a supplemental environmental project to convert its diesel-fueled boiler into a propane-fueled boiler in order to achieve lower air emissions.
For more information or assistance with your Environmental and Health & Safety regulatory compliance needs, contact Ralph Carito at Total Environmental & Safety, LLC (Total) at rcarito@TotalEnviron.com or 908-442-8599.