EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 3/25

US businesses are subject to complex, overlapping environmental regulations related to air emissions, discharges to water, hazardous waste management and disposal, oil spills, chemical management, and more. Failure to comply with all applicable US EPA requirements can result in future liability and civil penalties as high as $100,000+ per day, per violation.

The EPA Enforcement Roundup highlights enforcement actions that offer insight into how and why US EPA and state partners assess penalties for noncompliance for environmental regulations.

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:

A railroad company agrees to a $910,985 penalty to resolve alleged hazardous waste management violations.

US EPA recently settled with a railroad company to resolve alleged hazardous waste management violations at a private rail track in Arkansas. Per the Agency, the company stored more than 750,000 gallons of highly flammable hazardous waste in rail cars near homes, a school, and waterways.

The flammable and toxic waste material, o-Chlorotoluene, was allegedly stored in up to 34 unsecured, unsupervised rail cars for at least two years.

An explosives manufacturer agreed to pay a $394,905 penalty to address alleged Risk Management Program violations.

An EPA inspection of the company’s ammonium nitrate production facility revealed RMP violations related to the management of ammonia and chlorine. The facility is subject to these requirements because it stores and processes more than 10,000 pounds of ammonia and 2,500 pounds of chlorine.

EPA specifically alleges that the company failed to adhere to Clean Air Act RMP standards for process safety information, process hazard analysis, mechanical integrity, and operating procedures.

A seafood product wholesaler faces civil penalties for alleged EPCRA and Clean Air Act violations.

The company operates a cold storage warehouse and distribution center in Massachusetts that uses anhydrous ammonia as a refrigerant. The company faces a $72,000 penalty.

EPA claims the company violated the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act by not submitting a Tier 2 form for anhydrous ammonia to the required parties and failed to comply with the Clean Air Act's General Duty Clause by not performing a process hazard analysis.

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Tags: Clean Air Act, EPA, EPA Enforcement Roundup, EPCRA, hazardous waste management, RCRA