The EPA announced that Clearwater Paper Corporation of Lewiston, Idaho, will pay a combined $367,088 in penalties for failing to properly report releases of hazardous chlorine emissions that occurred in 2019, 2020 and 2021.Multiple unexpected releases of chlorine gas occurred at Clearwater’s Lewiston facility that resulted in hundreds of pounds of this toxic chemical being emitted into the air. Chlorine is used at the facility to process pulp for paper production.
Some of these releases were large enough to cause evacuations at the facility and resulted in employees seeking medical attention after exposure.
“Communities and first responders near facilities using deadly chemicals have a need and a legal right to know when releases occur,” said EPA Region 10 Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Ed Kowalski. “These are not simple paperwork issues; the safety of workers, first responders, and residents rests on a company’s compliance with these requirements.”
The company was issued a $84,769 penalty under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act and an additional $237,319 penalty under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act for its failure to immediately notify officials and provide timely follow-up reports regarding these releases.
The company was also issued an additional $45,000 penalty under EPCRA, for failure to properly report numerous releases in its annual Toxics Release Inventory reporting.
Pennsylvania Roofing Contractor Willfully Exposed Own Children to Potentially Deadly Falls
The owner of a Liverpool roofing company risked the lives of two of his children by exposing them to falls from heights — the construction industry's leading cause of death — while they worked on roofs atop a Mechanicsburg apartment complex in June 2024, a U.S. Department of Labor investigation has found.Inspectors with OSHA opened an investigation of S&L Roofing, Gutters and Siding, LLC after the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry notified the agency that the owner and his 12- and 14-year-old sons were doing roofing work. In addition to finding the children exposed to fall hazards, OSHA determined the minors were exposed to injuries while using an incorrectly set extension ladder and pneumatic nail guns in violation of federal regulations.
The agency issued the contractor a citation for five safety violations, including two classified as willful, and assessed $64,759 in proposed penalties, an amount set by federal statute.
"Allowing children to perform roofing work is illegal and permitting them to do so without fall protection makes this case even more disturbing," said OSHA Area Director Kevin T. Chambers in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. "Falls from heights kill hundreds of workers each year and leave many more with permanent and often disabling injuries. Once again, S&L Roofing, Gutters and Siding is ignoring mandatory federal regulations and putting people – this time his own children – in danger."
S&L Roofing is currently in litigation with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania after similar violations were cited by Pennsylvania safety inspectors in 2023. OSHA also cited the company for three serious violations for failing to use fall protective systems in two inspections in 2015.
In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 1,069 construction workers died on the job. Of those deaths, 395 were related to falls from heights.
OSHA’s Proposed Heat Standard Available to View
OSHA’s new proposed rule, Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings, has been submitted for publication to the Office of the Federal Register. While the official proposed rule is not yet published, an unofficial version of the regulatory text is available as a PDF from OSHA’s webpage on the heat rulemaking. The agency will begin accepting comments on the proposal once the official version is published in the Federal Register.OSHA notes that heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. The proposed rule’s release comes at a time when dangerous heat levels are affecting large portions of the U.S., including both coasts and some southern states. The agency expects that if the rule is finalized, it will help protect approximately 36 million workers from heat and “substantially reduce” workplace heat injuries, illnesses, and deaths. Provisions of the proposed rule would require affected employers to develop and implement site-specific heat injury and illness prevention plans as well as plans to acclimatize new or returning workers who may be unaccustomed to working in high-heat conditions. The proposed rule also addresses requirements for drinking water, rest breaks, and control of indoor heat.
The standard would apply to all employers with some exceptions. Examples of situations in which the standard would not apply include work activities that are not expected to expose workers to temperatures above the “initial heat trigger,” which OSHA defines as a heat index of 80 F or a wet bulb globe temperature equal to the heat stress alert limits recommended by NIOSH for unacclimatized workers. Emergency response activities of workplace emergency response teams, emergency medical services, or technical search and rescue are examples of additional instances for which the standard would not apply.
OSHA’s rulemaking process for a heat standard began in October 2021 with an advance notice of proposed rulemaking. The Advisory Committee on Construction Safety and Health, which advises OSHA’s assistant secretary of labor on matters related to standards and policy, unanimously recommended in April that the agency advance the proposed rule.
Learn more about OSHA’s heat rulemaking from its website.
Connecticut Contractor Cited for Workplace Safety Violations Found in Fatal Trench Cave-In
An Easton concrete and earthwork contractor could have prevented an employee repairing an underground water line from suffering fatal injuries in a December 2023 trench collapse at a New Canaan work site but failed to follow federal safety standards for excavations.Investigators with OSHA determined Sound Construction Inc. exposed five employees to cave-in, engulfment or struck-by hazards when it did not do the following:
- Provide cave-in protection for the more than 12-foot-deep vertical walled trench, which resulted in the death of an employee.
- Train employees on how to recognize and avoid trenching hazards.
- Ensure an excavator was kept more than two feet from the trench’s edge.
- Verify the location of underground utilities and/or structures prior to excavation.
OSHA cited Sound Construction for two willful and five serious violations of federal regulations and proposed $394,083 in penalties. In 2016, the agency cited the company for three serious violations related to trench safety at a Trumbull worksite.
“Despite prior warnings, Sound Construction ignored trench safety protections and that decision cost an employee their life,” said OSHA Area Director Catherine Brescia in Bridgeport, Connecticut. “All employers should make workplace safety a priority or risk being responsible for leaving the family, friends and co-workers of one or more of their employees to grieve this kind of preventable death.”
EPA Releases New Science-Based Recommendations to Help Reduce Exposure to PFAS in Fish
The EPA issued updated recommendations under the Clean Water Act for contaminants that states, Tribes, and territories should consider monitoring in locally caught, freshwater fish. For the first time, EPA has added several per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) to the contaminant list alongside lead, three cyanotoxins, a flame retardant, and amphetamine. The recommendation to monitor for twelve PFAS fulfills a key commitment in Administrator Regan’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap and helps protect communities from exposure to these “forever chemicals.”“It’s important for EPA to continue advancing the science on PFAS as part of our comprehensive effort to protect the public from these harmful substances,” said EPA Acting Assistant Administrator for Water Bruno Pigott. “By considering the latest science in their local advisories and testing for PFAS in fish at a local level, states and Tribes can protect subsistence, recreational, and sport fishers.”
States, Tribes, and territories monitor and analyze contaminants in fish and shellfish caught in local, fresh waterbodies. When they find contaminants at concentrations that can negatively impact people’s health, they issue consumption advisories. Some state and territorial programs that issue fish and shellfish advisories rely on EPA’s recommendations to determine which contaminants to monitor.
Many states are already monitoring for certain PFAS in fish and using local data to issue fish consumption advisories where appropriate. Examples of states that have advisories in place include Alabama, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin.
With this announcement, EPA is suggesting that states, Tribes, and territories monitor for twelve PFAS and other contaminants including lead, cyanotoxins, a flame retardant, and amphetamine. This update comes after reviewing scientific literature, analyzing data, and seeking external peer review of the agency’s analysis, and it will help ensure that state and Tribal fish advisories consider the latest science.
EPA’s most recent National Aquatic Resource Survey, which monitors fish tissue from lakes and streams across the country, and numerous other studies have found PFAS in freshwater fish and shellfish at levels that may impact human health. These studies indicate the presence of PFAS in fish, but they do not give enough information at a local level to inform public health decisions, which is why the role of states, Tribes, and territories in gathering local data is essential.
EPA recommends that people who eat locally-caught, freshwater fish and shellfish caught in local rivers and lakes consult their state, Tribe, or territory to determine the safe amount of those fish and shellfish to eat.
European Agency Adds Processing Aid to Hazardous Chemicals List
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) recently announced the addition of the chemical bis(α,α-dimethylbenzyl) peroxide to its Candidate List of substances of very high concern for authorization. Bis(α,α-dimethylbenzyl) peroxide is used as a processing aid and as a flame retardant, according to ECHA’s news update. The substance was added to the hazardous chemicals list because it is toxic for reproduction.A substance “infocard” published by ECHA states that bis(α,α-dimethylbenzyl) peroxide can cause serious eye irritation and may also cause an allergic skin reaction; a majority of companies that have submitted data to ECHA about the substance agree that it is skin sensitizing, the agency explains. The infocard also provides information related to hazard classification and labeling and other properties of concern. PubChem, the open chemistry database of the National Institutes of Health, describes bis(α,α-dimethylbenzyl) peroxide, also known as dicumyl peroxide, as “often highly toxic and irritating to the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes.”
The Candidate List now contains 241 substances. Identifying a chemical as a substance of very high concern and including it in the Candidate List is the first step of the authorization procedure under REACH, the European Union’s Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals.
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