The existing exclusions, which were enacted in 2008, were adopted by only a few states: Idaho, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and were also effective in Arkansas, Iowa, Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, and tribal lands.
The purpose of the proposed revisions is to ensure that the recycling regulations, as implemented, encourage reclamation in a way that does not result in increased risk to human health and the environment from discarded hazardous secondary material. The proposal would require secondary hazardous materials to be legitimately reclaimed and accumulated at waste generator sites using the same protections that are afforded to hazardous waste.
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Arizona Initiates New Fees for Hazardous Waste
The fees range from an annual $100 fee for small quantity generators, to as much as $500,000 for incinerators. Generators that ship waste off-site must pay $67.50 per ton, up to $400,000.00 per year. Sites that dispose of hazardous waste will pay $270 per ton, up to $15,000,000.00 per disposal site per year. ADEQ is currently drafting rules that will implement the new fees beginning July 1, 2012
New Documents for California Cap and Trade Rule Released for Public Comment
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) posted the 15-day Notice of Public Availability of Modified Text for the Proposed California Cap on Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Market-Based Compliance Regulation, including Compliance Offset Protocols.
Inquiries concerning the substance of the proposed regulation may be directed to Mr. Steve Cliff, Chief, Climate Change Program Evaluation Branch, at 916-322-7194 or Ms. Rajinder Sahota, Manager, Climate Change Program Operations Section at 916-323-8503.
EPA Proposes Air Pollution Standards for Oil and Gas Production
EPA has proposed standards to reduce harmful air pollution from oil and gas drilling operations.The standards would leverage operators’ ability to capture and sell natural gas that currently escapes into the air, resulting in more efficient operations while reducing harmful emissions that can impact air quality in surrounding areas and nearby states.
“This administration has been clear that natural gas is a key component of our clean energy future, and the steps announced today will help ensure responsible production of this domestic energy source,” said Gina McCarthy, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation. “Reducing these emissions will help cut toxic pollution that can increase cancer risks and smog that can cause asthma attacks and premature death—all while giving these operators additional product to bring to market.”
The proposal would cut smog-forming volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from several types of processes and equipment used in the oil and gas industry, including a 95% reduction in VOCs emitted during the completion of new and modified hydraulically fractured wells. This dramatic reduction would largely be accomplished by capturing natural gas that currently escapes to the air and making that gas available for sale through technologies and processes already in use by several companies and required in some states.
Natural gas production in the US is growing, with more than 25,000 new and existing wells fractured or re-fractured each year. The VOC reductions in the proposal are expected to help reduce ozone nonattainment problems in many areas where oil and gas production occurs. In addition, the VOC reductions would yield a significant environmental benefit by reducing methane emissions from new and modified wells. Methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, is a potent greenhouse gas—more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The proposed changes also would reduce cancer risks from emissions of several air toxics, including benzene.
EPA’s analysis of the proposed changes, which also include requirements for storage tanks and other equipment, show they are highly cost-effective, with a net savings to the industry of tens of millions of dollars annually from the value of natural gas that would no longer escape to the air. The proposal includes reviews of four air regulations for the oil and natural gas industry as required by the Clean Air Act (CAA): a new source performance standard for VOCs from equipment leaks at gas processing plants; a new source performance standard for sulfur dioxide emissions from gas processing plants; an air toxics standard for oil and natural gas production; and an air toxics standard for natural gas transmission and storage.
EPA is under a consent decree requiring the agency to sign a proposal by July 28, 2011 and take final action by February 28, 2012. As part of the public comment period, EPA will hold three public hearings, in the Dallas, Denver, and Pittsburgh areas. Details on the hearings will be announced soon.
Trivestco Energy Company Fined for SPCC Violations
EPA fined the Trivestco Energy Company of Ponca City, Oklahoma, $4,850 for violating federal Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure () regulations outlined under the Clean Water Act (CWA).
A federal inspection of two oil production facilities located near Braman, Kay County, Oklahoma, revealed that the facilities’ SPCC plans did not implement appropriate containment structures and equipment and no inspection records were available for review by the inspector. The inspection also revealed training records for site personnel were not maintained for three years as required by federal regulations, visual inspections of containers, foundations and supports were not conducted periodically for deterioration and maintenance needs, and above ground valves and pipelines were not examined on a scheduled basis for general condition. As part of an Expedited Settlement Agreement with EPA, the facility has provided certification that all identified deficiencies have been corrected.
SPCC regulations require onshore oil production or bulk storage facilities to provide oil spill prevention, preparedness and responses to prevent oil discharges. The SPCC program helps protect our nation’s water quality. A spill of only one gallon of oil can contaminate one million gallons of water.
VA Medical Center in Wichita to Pay $17,979 Penalty to Settle Hazardous Waste Issues
The Robert J. Dole Veterans Administration Medical Center in Wichita, Kansas, has agreed to pay a $17,979 civil penalty to the United States to settle a series of hazardous waste violations on its campus.
In addition to the civil penalty, the Veterans Administration has agreed to spend an estimated $61,900 on a supplemental environmental project to erect a hazardous waste accumulation building at the Wichita hospital. The Medical Center will safely accumulate hazardous wastes in the building prior to timely shipping the wastes to permitted facilities for proper treatment and disposal.
EPA inspectors conducted an inspection of the Medical Center in April 2010 and noted a number of violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and Kansas Administrative Regulations, which regulate the management and disposal of hazardous wastes.
The violations noted during the inspection included failures to make hazardous waste determinations; failures to inspect, label, date, and close hazardous waste containers; failures to make arrangements with emergency responders; failures to label used oil containers; and disposal of hazardous waste through the biological waste system.
According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kansas, the violations involved used oil filters, used oil, spent anti-freeze, and other liquid wastes in maintenance areas; unknown materials in a waste storage area; waste pharmaceuticals disposed in biomedical waste collection throughout the facility; and chemotherapy waste disposed with biomedical waste from the Medical Center’s Oncology Clinic.
As part of the settlement, the Veterans Administration must submit to EPA documentation of all hazardous waste determinations performed at the Wichita facility since April 2010, along with a standard operating procedure for assuring that all solid wastes at its facility receive a hazardous waste determination. On a quarterly basis for a year, the Medical Center must also provide photographic evidence of proper closing, labeling, and dating of its hazardous waste accumulation containers and of proper management of its used oil containers and tanks. It must also provide EPA with copies of shipping manifests for hazardous wastes that are sent off-site.
EPA Considering New Toxicity Testing and Environmental Sampling for BPA
Following a BPA Action Plan announced in March 2010, the EPA is requesting public comment on possible toxicity testing and environmental sampling to study BPA’s potential environmental impacts. BPA has been shown to cause reproductive and developmental effects in animal studies. This action is part of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s comprehensive effort to strengthen EPA’s chemical management program and assure the safety of chemicals that Americans encounter in their daily lives.
BPA is used in the manufacture of a wide range of consumer and industrial products including food-can liners, hard polycarbonate plastics, epoxy paints and coatings, and thermal papers, including some cash register receipts. Releases of BPA to the environment exceed 1 million pounds per year.
“A number of concerns have been raised about the potential human health and environmental effects of BPA,” said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The data collected under the testing EPA is considering would help EPA better understand and address the potential environmental impacts of BPA.”
In January 2010 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it would further examine potential human health effects and reduce exposure to BPA in the food supply, which represents the greatest source of exposure to people. EPA is working with FDA, Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) on research under way to better determine and evaluate the potential health consequences of BPA exposures. At the conclusion of that research, EPA will determine if additional actions may be needed to address human health concerns from non-food use exposures.
EPA issued an action plan on BPA in March 2010 outlining possible steps the agency might take to address risks presented by BPA, including the testing discussed in the announcement.
Comments on the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) must be received on or before September 26, 2011.
Court Holds Company Liable for Dioxin Contamination from Company it Acquired
A New Jersey Superior Court ruling holding a major chemical company liable for costs associated with the cleanup of sediments in the lower Passaic River contaminated decades ago by a Newark pesticide manufacturing plant marks an important victory for taxpayers of New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie said last week.
In a ruling last week, Judge Sebastian P. Lombardi, presiding in Essex County, determined that Occidental Chemical Corp., is responsible under state law for cleanup costs associated with pollution caused by Diamond Alkali/Diamond Shamrock Chemicals Corp., which it acquired and merged into itself in the 1980s.
Diamond Shamrock/Diamond Alkali operated a pesticide and herbicide manufacturing plant on Lister Avenue from 1951 to 1969, polluting the river with an extremely toxic form of dioxin that resulted from the production of the Vietnam War-era defoliant Agent Orange, as well as DDT and other chemicals.
“This is an important ruling for residents of communities along the river, and for all New Jersey taxpayers,” Governor Christie said. “It has always been our steadfast position that all companies, not just Occidental Chemical, own up to their responsibility for the environmental damages that they and their predecessors caused.”
“This ruling marks an important step in the long history of cleanup of contamination that has severely harmed the lower Passaic River and deprived the public of safe enjoyment of this resource for decades,” said New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bob Martin.
The federal EPA, the lead agency on the river’s cleanup, has estimated the cost of remediation for the most heavily contaminated portion of the river, an eight-mile stretch nearest the Lister Avenue plant, at $1 billion to $4 billion.
Judge Lombardi ruled that Occidental, one of eight companies named in a lawsuit filed by the state, is jointly and severally liable to contribute to the cleanup and removal costs under the state’s Spill Compensation and Control Act. Occidental had claimed in court papers that it did not assume responsibility for the contamination from the Lister Avenue site when it acquired corporate stock from Diamond Shamrock.
EPA and DEP are currently focusing initial river cleanup plans on the eight-mile stretch nearest the plant. Tierra Solutions, another company named in the state’s lawsuit, is currently mobilizing to begin work on removing 40,000 cubic yards of the most contaminated sediments immediately adjacent to the pesticides plant. Tierra is making plans for removal of an additional 160,000 cubic yards.
Judge Lombardi has heard arguments on a second state motion that seeks to have Tierra similarly held liable for all past and future state costs. A ruling is expected later this summer.
Pesticides manufactured at the Lister Avenue site included Agent Orange and DDT. Agent Orange consisted of a form of dioxin, known as 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). This is one of the most toxic chemicals ever produced.
In 1983, then-Governor Thomas H. Kean declared a state of emergency and authorized the DEP to take steps to protect human health and the environment following the discovery of extremely elevated levels of dioxin in the river. Shortly thereafter, the plant site and river were placed on the EPA’s National Priorities List, or Superfund.
Dioxin concentrations in Passaic River fish and crabs are among the highest reported in the world and present an imminent and substantial danger to the public and wildlife. Consumption of dioxin-contaminated crabs and fish greatly increases cancer risks.
As a result, the state has been forced to impose fishing and crabbing bans in the Passaic River or Newark Bay for more than 25 years.
Kansas Objects to EPA/Army CWA Interpretation
The Governor and the Secretaries for Kansas Departments of Health and Environment; Agriculture; Wildlife, Parks and Tourism; and Commerce, as well as Tracy Streeter, Director of the Kansas Water Office, are concerned that the guidance, as proposed, attacks the state’s rights to define and manage its streams.
The EPA and the Corps published for comment the guidance proposed in the Federal Register on May 2nd. It describes how the two agencies will identify waters protected by the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, or the CWA. This is likely to increase the number of waters currently identified in the Waters of the United States.
In his letter, Governor Brownback wrote that Kansas’ laws protect all state waters and an increase in the scope as proposed by the federal government is an unwarranted infringement on the state’s rights.
“Implementing this proposed federal guidance would usurp a large portion of the state’s authority to protect its waters,” Brownback said. “Kansas has adopted laws protecting its waters, and I urge the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to take into consideration the undue burden their proposed guidance will place on the Kansas agencies responsible for protecting public health and the environment as well as animal and aquatic life.”
State officials agree that Kansas laws are adequately protecting Waters of the State while the EPA’s proposed authority will include currently non-jurisdictional waters that only flow in response to precipitation runoff and are above the water table.
“Kansas is positioned to sufficiently protect its waters, and the proposed guidance lacks common sense application of the intent of the Clean Water Act. If the state’s ephemeral streams—which are currently either void of water or covered by farm land—are to be a part of the proposed federally mandated program, the State of Kansas will be forced to stretch its limited resources to set standards and issue permits for such waters,” said Dr. Robert Moser, Secretary for Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
While the EPA and the Corps have issued no expected timeline for the joint guidance to take effect, the State of Kansas believes the proposed identification of U.S. waters pursuant to the CWA is not needed in Kansas.
“I applaud the Governor standing up for Kansas against this attempt at overregulation by a federal bureaucracy,” said Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman.
The public comment period for the draft guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the CWA ends on July 31, 2011.
Dow Chemical Agrees to Pay $2.5 Million Penalty to Resolve Air, Water and Waste Violations at Its Midland Michigan Complex
In addition to paying a penalty, Dow will implement a comprehensive program to reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) from leaking equipment such as valves and pumps. These emissions—known as fugitive emissions because they are not discharged from a stack but rather leak directly from equipment—are generally controlled through work practices, such as monitoring for and repairing leaks. The settlement requires Dow to implement enhanced work practices, including more frequent leak monitoring, better repair practices, and innovative new work practices designed to prevent leaks. In addition, the enhanced program requires Dow to replace valves with new “low emissions” valves or valve packing material, designed to significantly reduce the likelihood of future leaks of VOCs and HAPs.
“This compliance program should serve as a model for industry and will go a long way to assure future violations will not happen again at this facility,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice. “Dow worked cooperatively with the government to resolve this matter and in doing so set an example for responsible compliance with our nation’s environmental laws.”
“Communities near large industrial facilities depend on EPA to enforce our nation’s environmental laws and protect public health and the environment,” said Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlement with Dow will reduce the potential for future violations and protect communities from emissions of hazardous air pollutants.”
According to the 24-count complaint, filed simultaneously with the settlement in the Eastern District of Michigan, Dow allegedly violated CAA requirements for monitoring and repairing leaking equipment, for demonstrating initial and continuous compliance with regulations applicable to chemical, pharmaceutical, and pesticide plants, and for failing to comply with reporting and recordkeeping requirements. The complaint also asserts that Dow violated the CWA’s prohibition against discharging pollutants without a permit and violated the RCRA’s requirements for hazardous waste generators.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day comment period and final approval by the court.
Caterpillar Inc. to Pay $2.55 Million Penalty to Resolve CAA Violations
Caterpillar Inc., has agreed to pay a $2.55 million civil penalty to settle alleged CAA violations for shipping more than 590,000 highway and non-road engines without the correct emissions controls. Caterpillar also allegedly failed to comply with emission control reporting and engine-labeling requirements. Engines operating without proper emissions controls can emit excess nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter and other air pollutants that impact people’s health, potentially causing respiratory illnesses and aggravating asthma.
The CAA requires the use of certified after-treatment devices (ATDs) that control engine exhaust emissions once the emissions have exited the engine and entered the exhaust system. Typical ATDs include catalytic converters and diesel particulate filters. Correct fuel injector and fuel map settings are also crucial for proper engine emission control. Caterpillar allegedly shipped over 590,000 engines to vehicle assemblers without the correct ATDs and with improperly configured fuel injector and map settings. In some cases, the misconfigured engines were incorporated into vehicles, which resulted in excess emissions of NOx and particulate matter into the environment.
“This settlement demonstrates our commitment to enforcing the Clean Air Act’s requirement that engine manufacturers take steps to ensure engines are equipped with emissions controls that are essential to protecting public health from harmful air pollution,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “Caterpillar will pay a substantial civil penalty for shipping engines that did not comply with these Clean Air Act requirements, and under this settlement, it must continue its recall and correction of engines that do not have correctly configured emissions controls.”
“The enforcement of vehicle emissions standards, labeling and reporting requirements is critical to protecting the air we breathe and ensuring that companies play by the rules,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlement will protect public health and create a level playing field for companies that meet their environmental obligations.”
The consent decree requires Caterpillar to continue its recall of non-compliant engines to install the correct ATDs and correct the fuel injector and fuel map settings. In addition to the recall, Caterpillar will mitigate the effects of the excess emissions from the non-conforming engines through permanent retirement of banked emission credits. Caterpillar will also improve its reporting of emission control system defects, as required under the CAA.
The state of California, through the Air Resources Board, is also settling its claims for violations arising from the sale in California of improperly configured engines. California will receive $510,000 of the civil penalty.
Repeat Offender to Pay $1 Million and Banned in Magic Pipe Case
Four corporations involved in owning and operating a fleet of vessels regularly visiting New Orleans were sentenced to pay a $1 million penalty and banned from doing business in the US for the next five years by Judge Carl J. Barbier, the Justice Department announced.
Stanships Inc., (Marshall Islands), Stanships Inc., (New York), Standard Shipping Inc., and Calmore Maritime Ltd., collectively the owners and operator of the M/V Americana, a Panamanian registered cargo vessel, each pleaded guilty on April 12, 2011, in New Orleans to 32 felony counts for violations of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, Ports, and Waterways Safety Act and obstruction of justice.
As part of the sentence, the court prohibited the shipping conglomerate from conducting further business in the US during the maximum five year period of probation. The owner of the companies was also personally banned from being involved in the ownership or technical management of ships trading in the United States. Of the $1 million penalty, Judge Barbier ordered that $250,000 be devoted to organizational community service to help conservation, protection, restoration, and management projects to benefit fish and wildlife habitats and resources in the Eastern District of Louisiana.
The government’s investigation of the M/V Americana started when a crew member told the U.S. Coast Guard during an inspection of the ship on November 29, 2010, that the ship was illegally dumping sludge and oily waste overboard using a so-called “magic pipe” to bypass required pollution prevention equipment. The crew member provided the Coast Guard with cell phone photos taken at sea showing the use of the bypass. According to an agreed upon factual statement filed in court, the defendants have admitted the following:
- Sludge and oily waste from the vessel’s engines was transferred to a fuel tank and then deliberately pumped overboard.
- The ship had an unreported leak between a ballast and fuel tank that led to overboard discharges of oil contaminated waste from both tanks.
- A black “comet streak” stain of apparent oil was visible on the outside of the ship in the immediate vicinity of the overboard valve when the ship was in New Orleans in December 2010.
- The metal bypass pipe used to dump oily waste overboard was hidden from view when the ship was in port.
- A false Oil Record Book was created to conceal the illegal discharges. Ships are required to keep an Oil Record Book in which internal transfers and overboard discharges are fully recorded. The log is regularly inspected by the Coast Guard to assure compliance with US and international law and to make sure ships are not a threat to US ports and waters.
The defendants also were charged with violating the Ports and Waterways Safety Act because they failed to report a hazardous situation that threatened US ports and waters, involving the failure of the ship’s generators. After a voyage in which the ship had lost power for several days at sea, the ship arrived at the Southwest Pass, Louisiana. The master, who opposed proceeding to port until the problem was corrected, was directed by a shore-side manager to write an email indicating that the ship had two generators. This was communicated to the Coast Guard which then allowed the ship to enter the Mississippi River. However, the agency was not told that neither of the two generators was fully operational or able to power the ship, and that there was no backup since a third generator was completely inoperable. Because of the hazardous situation, the master ordered tug boats to guide the ship into port.
Stanships Inc., (Marshall Islands) is a repeat offender. It committed new crimes after it was sentenced on September 29, 2010, for deliberate discharges in US waters and concealing illegal pollution in falsified ship records from the M/V Doric Glory. In that case, US District Judge Helen G. Berrigan of the Eastern District of Louisiana ordered the defendant to implement a comprehensive environmental compliance plan and pay $700,000 in criminal fines and an additional $125,000 as community service payments. On April 27, 2011, Judge Berrigan revoked probation for Stanships Inc., (Marshall Islands) and banned the company’s vessels from further trade in the United States.
“The crimes of Stanships, a repeat offender, warrant the sanction that it be banned from conducting further business in America,” said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice. “This prosecution sends the message that deliberate violations of environmental laws will not be tolerated.”
“Deliberate pollution and intentional falsification of environmental records are serious crimes. This case was also significant because the misconduct took unacceptable risks with Louisiana’s ports and waters, as well as the safety of the ship. Prosecutions such as this are designed to protect the future of our water, rivers, and wetlands and to ensure that the regulated community is truthful with the Coast Guard,” said Jim Letten, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates the United States’ steadfast commitment to safeguarding the marine environment. We applaud the efforts of the many environmentally responsible companies, but will hold non-compliant corporations and their officers accountable for violating environmental laws. I am grateful for the hard work and dedication of the Coast Guard investigators and Department of Justice for bringing this case to proper resolution,” said Rear Adm. Roy A. Nash, Eighth District Coast Guard commander.
“Protection of our aquatic resources continues to be of utmost importance to the Coast Guard. This sentencing should send a message that repeat offenders will be investigated and prosecuted to the fullest,” said Special Agent in Charge Damon Rodriguez, Coast Guard Investigative Service, Gulf Region.
“Today’s action demonstrates that neither the government nor the public will tolerate the flagrant and repeated violation of U.S. laws,” said Ivan J. Vikin, Special Agent in Charge of EPA’s criminal enforcement program in Louisiana. “The government contends that the defendant not only failed to carry out the terms of its probation, it knowingly released oil into our oceans after the sentence was passed. The oceans must be protected from shipping companies that look to cut corners by dumping waste improperly.”
This case was investigated by the U.S. Coast Guard Criminal Investigative Services and the EPA Criminal Investigation Division, with assistance from Sector New Orleans, Eight Coast Guard District Office of the Judge Advocate. The case was prosecuted by Assistant US Attorneys Emily K. Greenfield and Dorothy Manning Taylor, and Senior Trial Attorney Richard A. Udell of the Environmental Crimes Section of Department of Justice Environment and Natural Resources Division.
Miami Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for Smuggling Refrigerant
U.S. District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan sentenced Brendan Clery, to 18 months in prison and ordered him to pay a $40,000 criminal fine and forfeit illegal proceeds in the amount of $935,240. Clery pleaded guilty in April 2011 to knowingly importing approximately 278,256 kilograms of illegal hydrochlorofluorocarbon-22 (HCFC-22, also known as R-22) into the United States. HCFC-22 is an ozone-depleting substance regulated by EPA under the Clean Air Act (CAA). HCFC-22 depletes the ozone layer, resulting in increased ultraviolet radiation-B (UV-B) reaching the Earth’s surface, which in turn leads to a greater chance of overexposure to UV radiation and the risks of health effects, such as skin cancer, cataracts, and suppression of the immune system.
“EPA takes seriously the smuggling of illegal substances that can harm the ozone layer,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s sentencing is an example of EPA’s commitment to aggressively enforce U.S. laws and meet our international obligations.”
According to court records and statements, in 2005, Clery formed and served as president of Lateral Investments LLC, a corporation he established in Florida for the purpose of importing merchandise, including refrigerant gas he intended to sell illegally. Between June and August 2007, Clery illegally smuggled approximately 278,256 kilograms or 20,460 cylinders of restricted HCFC- 22 from China, with a market value of $1,438,270, and at no time did Clery or Lateral Investments hold the consumption allowances required to legally import HCFC-22.
EPA established a schedule to phase out the production and importation of ozone-depleting substances, with a complete phase out starting in 2030. To meet its obligations under the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer, EPA issued baseline consumption allowances for the production and importation of HCFC-22 to individuals and companies. To legally import HCFC-22 for consumption, one must hold and expend one consumption allowance for each kilogram of HCFC-22 imported into the United States.
This case was part of a larger criminal investigation known as Operation Catch-22. It was investigated by the EPA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Criminal Investigation Bureau, and prosecuted by special assistant U. S. Attorney Jodi A. Mazer.
Pennsylvania DEP Orders Radon Contractor to Surrender Certification, Pay $58,875 Penalty
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) ordered Christopher Ford, of Abington Township, to surrender his state radon testing certification and pay $58,875 in civil penalties for numerous violations of the Radon Certification Act and Radiation Protection Act.
“Mr. Ford misrepresented the type of state certification held by his firm, and allowed an uncertified employee to perform radon system work,” DEP Southeast Regional Director Joseph A. Feola said. “Our inspectors documented 82 violations of radon system installation standards, along with eight violations of testing and quality assurance regulations.”
DEP noted the violations during June 2010 inspections of 15 radon systems installed by Ford’s firm, Environmental Concepts Technology, and cited him for not discharging radon above roof lines; not sealing floor and wall joints; failing to conduct post-mitigation testing; and not attaching system documentation to radon system units.
During a July 15, 2010, inspection of the contractor’s radon testing and mitigation programs, DEP inspectors found that Ford had failed to track his and his employee’s exposure to radon, a key component of his own quality assurance plan. He also failed to submit, analyze, and monitor field samples required to ensure accurate testing and analysis, or perform duplicate testing in 2008, 2009, and 2010, which is required by EPA.
Following a February 18 meeting, Mr. Ford was to submit to DEP a list of all radon systems he installed between October 27, 2008, and October 27, 2010, along with business tax returns for that same period. To date, the department has not received this information.
Ford’s mitigation certification expired October 27, 2010, and will not be renewed. DEP is seeking surrender of his testing certificate, which is due to expire December 14, 2011.
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Trivia Question of the Week
What was the first country to ban plastic bags?
a. Bangladesh
b. Norway
c. The Netherlands
d. China