EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 8/19

The EPA Enforcement Roundup gives you insight into how and why US EPA and state partners assess penalties for environmental noncompliance. 

All violations or claims discussed below are alleged only unless we say otherwise, and we withhold the names of organizations and individuals to protect their privacy.

Your EPA Enforcement Roundup for this week:

The operator of a zinc and lead mine has agreed to pay $429,794 in penalties for alleged hazardous waste management violations.

The company treated and stored hazardous waste without a permit between October 1, 2019, and January 15, 2024, says EPA. The company generates significant quantities of hazardous wastes that it is required to manage consistent with the requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

EPA investigators also found that during the same period that the company failed to determine the hazardous characteristics of waste generated in its laboratory, which increased the likelihood that hazardous waste would be improperly managed and that not all the hazards would be identified prior to determining suitable treatment or disposal methods.

An asphalt manufacturer in California will pay $53,115 to resolve alleged Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act violations.

Per the EPA, the company failed to provide complete and accurate reports of its releases of polycyclic aromatic compounds, potentially toxic chemicals that can harm human health, from its asphalt manufacturing plant during 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. These releases were permitted but still must be reported accurately. The company will pay a $53,115 penalty.

The company has agreed to submit to the EPA fully complete and accurate Toxics Release Inventory forms as part of an agreement to resolve claimed violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. The company has also permanently shut down the Irvine facility.

A seafood preparation company will pay $168,000 for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act off the coasts of Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.

Between 2020 and 2023, EPA completed reviews of annual reports for the company’s offshore seafood processing permits and claim to have found a significant number of violations of permit requirements. The National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits required for seafood processing vessels contain limits on what companies can discharge, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure that discharges do not harm water quality or the environment.

When processing seafood on the fishing vessel, the company generated and discharged gelatinous waste, known as stickwater. The organic components of the waste consume a lot of oxygen as part of the decomposition process, which can result in reduced oxygen levels in the seawaters at the ocean bottom. Low oxygen in water creates what are called ‘dead zones,’ because most marine life either dies or leaves the area. Low-oxygen conditions already exist along the Washington and Oregon coasts.

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