Tommy M. Francise, of Plaquemine, Louisiana, was found guilty of illegally dumped wastes, glycerin, and grease into a drainage canal behind his residence on Talbot Drive in Plaquemine.
During the execution of a search warrant in April 2010, investigators with the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s Office and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Criminal Investigation Division (CID) observed a large area of soil contaminated with grease at the rear of Francise’s residence. Investigators found two locations where used cooking oil was being discharged into the canal from a biodiesel production operation at the residence. Hoses connected to biodiesel containers were found leading to a drainage canal behind Francise’s residence. The drainage canal was contaminated with grease, and vegetation near the production area and in the drainage canal was destroyed.
Further inspection at the site revealed a large pile of burned solid waste near the processing area, which also contained several 55 gallon drums of methanol. Household garbage, wood, cans, plastic, metal, glass, pipe, nails, and concrete were also found around the residence. Based upon the findings in the inspection, Francise was arrested by DEQ-CID investigators on April 23, 2010.
“DEQ will continue to fully investigate any illegal dumping activity and prosecute anyone found to be involved,” said DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch. “Every Louisiana citizen should take personal pride in maintaining and preserving our unique natural environment for today as well as for future generations. We ask that anyone having knowledge of illegal dumping activity should contact the DEQ immediately. Notifications can be anonymous and we welcome any assistance from the public in order to bring violators to justice.”
In accepting Francise’s plea, the Honorable Alvin J. Batiste, Jr. ordered Francise to pay a $2,500 fine and reimburse DEQ in the amount of $2,700 for the cost of investigation. Batiste sentenced Francise to three years of probation. Francise was also ordered to clean up the property in accordance with DEQ regulations and submit to random inspections.
The case was prosecuted by District Attorney Ricky Ward and Assistant District Attorney Scott Stassi.
San Antonio RCRA and DOT Training
Jacksonville RCRA and DOT Training
New Orleans RCRA and DOT Training
How to Prepare for OSHA Adoption of the GHS for Classification and Labeling of Chemicals
This means that virtually every product label, material safety data sheet (soon to be called “safety data sheet” or SDS), and written hazard communication plan must be revised to meet the new standard. Worker training must be updated so that workers can recognize and understand the symbols and pictograms on the new labels as well as the new hazard statements and precautions on SDSs.
Environmental Resource Center is offering webcast training for you to learn how the new rule differs from current requirements, how to implement the changes, and when the changes must be implemented.
- March 23
- April 17
- May 18
Proposed Rule on the Use of Portable Tanks for the Transfer of Hazardous Liquid Cargoes
The Coast Guard last revised these regulations on September 30, 1997 (62 FR 51046). Since that time, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) harmonized requirements in the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR) and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) Code for the construction and use of portable tanks. Portable tanks constructed to these requirements are referred to as United Nations (UN) portable tanks. As of January 1, 2003, international regulations require that all newly manufactured portable tanks be designed, constructed, and approved in conformance with the requirements for UN portable tanks found in the IMDG Code. Mariners may continue to use other existing portable tanks provided the tanks continue to meet periodic test and inspection requirements.
The portable tanks authorized in this proposed rule would allow for the transport of packaged hazardous materials in accordance with the latest HMR and IMDG Code. Under the current regulations, intermediate bulk containers are not authorized for the transfer of certain hazardous liquid cargo.
Smith Chrome Plating Fined $74,000 for Water and Waste Violations
Alleged violations of hazardous waste and water quality laws and regulations at Smith Chrome Plating Inc., of Walla Walla, Washington, have resulted in two legal agreed orders that include fines totaling $74,000. The Washington Department of Ecology (Ecology) and Smith Chrome signed the orders to bring a history of violations to a close following many years of inspections, technical assistance, and informal enforcement.
Smith Chrome has a payment plan to pay $30,300 of the fine to Ecology, some of which will be used to enhance the environment. The company can receive credit for up to $27,700 of the fine for improvements to the facility’s wastewater and dangerous waste management systems beyond what is required by regulations. Ecology will suspend $16,000 of the $74,000 if Smith Chrome complies with the agreed order and remains in compliance for at least the next three years.
Smith Chrome Plating is a small chrome plating shop that plates concaves from agricultural equipment for local farmers. Concaves are pieces of equipment on combines used for harvesting grains. The company repeatedly mismanaged dangerous waste from the plating process.
The dangerous wastes that the shop generates include wastewater, sludge, and corrosive solutions containing chromium, lead, and other metals, and debris containing these contaminants.
The violations were discovered during compliance inspections in 2010 and 2011. Inspectors found open and unlabeled containers of dangerous waste and an actual release of dangerous waste to the ground.
At least twelve 55-gallon drums of dangerous waste had accumulated at the site for up to three years. The legal time limit to store dangerous waste is 90 days, unless the facility obtains a special permit. Under the order, Smith Chrome is required to determine if there have been any other releases from past practices. The company must remedy any releases they may find.
The company also violated its water quality permit limits for several pollutants 10 times between January 1, 2010 and October 13, 2011, and failed to analyze all water samples as required by its wastewater discharge permit.
Most of the previously identified problems have been resolved, and Ecology and Smith Chrome are working together to remedy the remainder of the violations. By entering into agreed orders with Ecology, Smith Chrome, the state, and taxpayers save the expense of costly litigation. The agreements lower the original $101,460 recommended penalty and require Smith Chrome to waive its right to appeal.
The newly signed agreed order requires that all remaining violations be completely resolved within a specified timeframe.
“Ecology has worked to bring the company into compliance over several years,” said Lisa Brown, who manages Ecology’s Hazardous Waste and Toxic Reduction Program in Eastern Washington. “Our hazardous waste laws are there to protect the public, and we have an obligation to get these violations resolved.”
Chromium (VI) can be found in air, soil, and water when released during the use and disposal of chromium-based products. It does not usually remain in the atmosphere, but is deposited into the soil and water. At high levels, Chromium (VI) can damage the nose and cause cancer. Ingesting high levels of chromium (VI) may result in anemia or damage to the stomach or intestines.
Exposure to lead can damage the nervous system, kidneys, and reproductive system. For these reasons, it is very important to contain these wastes and dispose of them properly.
Ohio EPA Will Help Industries with Safer Chemistry Challenge
Ohio EPA is partnering with Ohio industries for the 2025 Safer Chemistry Challenge Program (SCCP), a new voluntary initiative of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, with a goal to reduce the use of selected chemicals by 25% by 2025.
The challenge is designed to motivate and reward industries that reduce the use of chemicals through source reduction measures including making changes in production processes or adopting new technologies, using cleaner processes that avoid use or generation of toxic chemicals and changing raw materials to include low toxicity materials that degrade into harmless substances in the environment.
Ohio EPA’s Office of Compliance Assistance and Pollution Prevention () staff can partner with participating businesses to advise them on the challenge program and offer technical assistance toward finding and implementing measures to meet the program’s goals. Based on 2007 chemical use data, the SCCP reduction goals start at 10% by 2015, increase to 20% by 2020, and increase to 25% by 2025.
There is a list of chemicals of high national concern, including heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and chromium, and other common industrial chemicals such as perchloroethylene, phthalates, and formaldehyde. However, participating companies will select chemicals based on their own internal priorities.
Participation will help protect Ohio’s environment, but there are direct benefits to businesses, too. These include improving employee health and safety, minimizing risk and liability, reducing the cost of compliance and employee protection and improving profitability.
DOT to Streamline Environmental Reviews for Transit Projects
“The President has asked us to find new ways to make our government work smarter on behalf of the American people by cutting waste and inefficiency wherever we find it,” said Secretary LaHood. “The changes we’re proposing will allow us to still carefully assess the impact of transit development on the environment, while reducing the time and energy needed to green-light good projects that clearly do not have a significant impact on the environment.”
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) anticipates that for certain transit projects, the streamlined NEPA review process would be five times faster, making the NEPA process the most efficient it has been in 20 years. The time-savings would be due, in part, to allowing certain types of transit projects that clearly do not have a significant impact on the local environment—such as projects to be built within an existing right-of-way where transit or other transportation already exists—to potentially undergo a less intensive NEPA evaluation, while still providing for a more thorough review of projects that do have the potential for significant environmental impacts. For qualified projects, less documentation would need to be submitted, and project sponsors and state and regional transportation authorities would be encouraged to take environmental impacts into consideration sooner, as part of the planning process.
“This new NEPA process would help provide transportation solutions to communities more quickly by potentially shaving more than a year off of the environmental review process for some projects,” said Rogoff. “The bottom line is that project sponsors would be able to spend less time and effort guiding projects through a maze of paperwork and more time building projects that will provide a real alternative to ever-increasing fuel costs.”
The proposed changes would boost transparency of the NEPA process by encouraging the posting of all environmental impact statements and environmental records of decision on a grant applicant’s project website—and maintaining that information until a project is constructed and operating.
Acton Sand and Gravel Assessed $25,870 Penalty by MassDEP
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $25,870 penalty against Acton Sand and Gravel, LLP, for solid waste violations that occurred at its processing site, located at 960 Main Street in Acton, Massachusetts.
During a March 2009 inspection of the company’s site, MassDEP personnel determined that the company’s asphalt, brick, and concrete rubble processing operation was in violation of MassDEP’s Solid Waste regulations. Specifically, the company has stockpiled excessive amounts of unprocessed rubble at the site for longer than the 90 days allowed under state regulations. The company had violated this requirement three other times since it began operations in 1996.
In a recent consent order, Acton Sand and Gravel has agreed to perform a cleanup of the site. To return to compliance, the company will process and recycle all the excess rubble currently stockpiled on the property within one year. The company must also pay $20,696 of the assessed penalty, with the remaining $5,174 suspended for two years as long as the operation comes back into compliance and there are no further violations.
“This action will eliminate a long-standing source of concern, and bring this facility back into compliance with environmental regulations,” said Lee Dillard Adams, deputy director of MassDEP’s Central Regional Office in Worcester.
Eielson Air Force Base Cited for Hazardous Waste Violations
Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska, mismanaged hazardous waste at its facilities and failed to ensure that personnel handling hazardous waste had proper training, according to a settlement with the EPA. The base agreed to pay a penalty for alleged violations of federal hazardous waste management laws, correct the violations, and improve its waste management and training practices.
“Facilities that handle thousands of pounds of hazardous waste each year have to manage it safely and ensure the people working with it are adequately trained,” said Jeff KenKnight, Manager of the Hazardous Waste Compliance Unit in EPA’s Seattle office. “Even minor hazardous waste spills or mismanagement can hurt the environment and put people’s health at risk.”
Eielson Air Force Base generates and stores thousands of pounds of hazardous waste each year from vehicle maintenance, aircraft maintenance, and other industrial activities. The wastes included coatings containing chromium, a toxic chemical that can be carcinogenic; toxic and highly flammable paint solvents; and fluorescent light tubes containing mercury.
EPA inspectors found a series of hazardous waste violations at Eielson Air Force Base during an inspection in 2010. The alleged violations include:
- Failure to determine if a waste was hazardous
- Improper labeling to clearly identify hazardous waste
- Failure to conduct regular inspections of hazardous waste containers
- Improper management of fluorescent lamps containing mercury
The settlement requires the base to pay a penalty of $45,700 and make improvements to its standard operating procedures and management controls in order to comply with federal hazardous waste laws.
EPA Orders Votran to Stop the Application of an Antimicrobial Pesticide to Fog Its Vehicles
EPA issued a Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order (SSURO) to the Volusia County Public Transportation System (Votran), located in South Daytona, Florida, for alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Votran is a service of the Volusia County government that provides transportation to all urban areas of the county with a fleet of buses, trolleys, and paratransit vehicles.
Based on a January 31, 2012 inspection of Votran’s offices, the EPA determined that Votran had been applying Sporicidin, an antimicrobial pesticide currently registered with the EPA, to the interior of its vehicles through a fogging machine. The SSURO orders Votran to stop any further fogging of its vehicles with Sporicidin if the intended use is to disinfect the interior of vehicles via fogging.
While Sporicidin is a registered EPA approved pesticide, its label authorizes users to apply it to pre-cleaned, hard, non-porous surfaces as a cleaner, disinfectant, and deodorizer by thoroughly wetting the surface, but does not authorize its use for fogging the interior of vehicles. Therefore, applying the disinfectant through fogging to disinfect the interior of Votran’s vehicles is not an acceptable and approved use of this product, and any such application is considered a violation of FIFRA.
Montana DEQ Seeks Public Comments on the Draft 2012 Nonpoint Source Management Plan
The 2012 Plan provides information on the sources and impacts of polluted runoff; identifies programs and resources that address NPS pollution; identifies long term strategies for protecting or restoring impacted streams, lakes; and wetlands; and describes the set of short-term (5-year) priority actions to ensure clean water.
Nonpoint source pollution occurs when activities on the land allow pollutants to enter waterbodies. The most common pollutants are excessive soil and nutrients. These and other pollutants harm aquatic life, increase costs for water users, and impact recreation. Montana’s citizens are both the source of the problem and the solution, because they can control nonpoint source pollution through their actions and activities.
Public comments will be accepted until 5:00 p.m., April 30, 2012.
Revision to Guidance on Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and Reporting
Comments are due on or before April 11, 2012.
Mike’s Foreign Auto Parts Fined $50,000 for Selling Illegal Catalytic Converters
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) penalized Mike’s Foreign Auto Parts $50,000 for selling illegal catalytic converters for use on passenger vehicles.
An ARB investigation revealed that between January 1, 2010, and September 30, 2011, the company sold 100 catalytic converters not permitted for sale or use in California.
“Since their widespread adoption in the 1970s, catalytic converters have drastically reduced smog-forming emissions,” said ARB Enforcement Chief James Ryden. “They are a vital weapon in the fight for clean air, and they must meet California’s strict standards.”
Aftermarket catalytic converters for on- and off-road vehicles must be approved by ARB to be advertised, sold, offered for sale, or installed in California.
Enforcement of these regulations not only protects the environment and public health, but also guards against unfair business practices. Faulty catalytic converters may result in smog check failures, which lead to expensive repairs for customers, and can jeopardize registration with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The settlement will be paid in monthly installments to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which supports projects and research to improve the state’s air quality.
Smog is a combination of smoke and other particulates, ozone, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides, and other chemically reactive compounds which, under certain conditions of weather and sunlight, may result in a murky brown haze. The primary source of smog in California is motor vehicles. These emissions may exacerbate respiratory ailments and negatively affect other serious health conditions.
TravelCenters Fined$1.2 Million for Environmental Violations
“Environmental regulations safeguard the public health,” Attorney General Harris said. “As Attorney General, I will defend those regulations and crack down on those who violate them.”
In March 2008, the Attorney General’s office joined a lawsuit filed by the Riverside District Attorney regarding serious and numerous violations at a truck stop in Coachella, California. TravelCenters operates 10 service area truck stops in California.
The Riverside County Department of Environmental Health, Hazardous Materials Division discovered numerous violations at a truck stop in Coachella—the most significant of which involved the tampering or disabling of sensors on the fuel tank monitoring system. These sensors are designed to detect the release of hazardous material at the earliest possible opportunity and activate warning alarms.
Other violations at the facility included failure to test and certify the underground storage tanks, failure to properly label and cover hazardous wastes, and failure to train employees in a timely manner on safety procedures.
The $1.2 million settlement requires TravelCenters to pay $950,000 in cash for penalties, costs, and expenses. TravelCenters receives a $250,000 credit for environmentally protective equipment installed at the Coachella facility that is more than currently required by state law.
Webcast on History and Evolution of the Clean Water Act
The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the cornerstone of surface water quality protection in the United States and 2012 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1972 amendments to this landmark environmental law. This webcast is the first in a series to commemorate the anniversary of the act. The Webcast will provide a brief introduction to the CWA including an overview of key components of the act and some basic terminology. It will also include a brief history of the act and some reflections on the evolution of the CWA. EPA’s Watershed Academy will host additional webcasts this year on different aspects of the CWA such as the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the National Nonpoint Source Program, the National Estuary Program, and other aspects of the law.
New Website on Nutrient Pollution
Nutrient pollution is one of America’s most widespread, costly, and challenging environmental problems, and is caused by excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the air and water. The site features information explaining the problem of nutrient pollution; the sources of the pollution; how it affects the environment, economy, and public health; and what people can do to reduce the problem. The site also features an interactive map of local case studies in reducing nutrient pollution.
Environmental News Links
Trivia Question of the Week
What statute requires you to record, retain and in some cases report allegations of significant adverse reactions to chemicals?
a. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
b. Toxic Substances Control Act
c. Occupational Safety and Health Act
d. Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act
