EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 5/13

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:

17 grocery stores were ordered to stop the sale and distribution of certain household disinfectants in the Kansas City area.

According to US EPA, the brand-name products in question “were illegally imported into the U.S., are noncompliant with federal law, and may represent a danger to consumers.” The stop sale orders require the stores to remove the illegal products from store shelves and to cease further sales and/or distribution.

The products contain glutaraldehyde as an active ingredient, which is not authorized in the U.S. as a household disinfectant due to potential health risks. These risks include throat and lung irritation, asthma and difficulty breathing, dermatitis, nasal irritation, sneezing, wheezing, burning eyes, and conjunctivitis.

Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, a product that makes disinfectant claims must be approved by US EPA and must display its unique registration number on the product label.

A metal finishing company in Oregon faces $87,600 in penalties for alleged hazardous waste management errors.

The company was found by Oregon’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to be out of compliance with the state hazardous waste program.

Per the Department, the facility failed to make hazardous waste determinations for twelve hazardous waste streams, failed to close five containers storing hazardous waste, and failed to amend its Contingency Plan to include facility changes and a quick reference guide.

It also allegedly stored:

• Hazardous waste beyond 90 days without a permit,
• Mercury-containing universal waste lamps in open containers and without labels
• Universal waste batteries and lamps without labels.
• Hazardous waste beyond 90 days without a permit.

A sterilization facility settled with US EPA to resolve alleged violations for Clean Air Act reporting requirements.

The facility provides sterilization services using ethylene oxide (EtO)—a chemical that has been subject to more stringent regulations from the Agency recently. The company will pay a penalty of $15,000. EtO is primarily used to make other chemicals, like antifreeze, and it is also used as a sterilizing agent.

The Federal and Drug Administration estimates that half of all sterile medical devices (~20 billion) are sterilized with ethylene oxide each year. The chemical has also been linked to an increase in leukemia and breast cancer.

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Tags: Clean Air Act, EPA Enforcement Roundup, ethylene oxide, FIFRA, hazardous waste management, RCRA