EPA Enforcement Roundup: Week of 10/7

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:

A resin manufacturer will pay a $332,000 penalty and perform a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) to resolve alleged hazardous waste violations.

The facility’s resin manufacturing process generates liquid hazardous waste. During an inspection, EPA observed several potential violations of the Georgia Hazardous Waste Management Act and its implementing regulations relating to the storage of hazardous waste in tanks and containers.

SEPs are projects that the settling company or companies opt in to resolve allegations of environmental noncompliance and/or damage—and they can cost a large sum. In this case, the company will construct a roof over the hazardous waste tank system and secondary containment area to eliminate a pathway for precipitation to enter and mix with hazardous waste that is managed in its hazardous waste tank system.

The SEP is estimated to cost the company $230,000. EPA accepts ideas for Supplemental Environmental Projects.

A chemical manufacturer will pay $130,000 to resolve alleged hazardous waste management violations.

The facility underwent an inspection in March 2023 when representatives of EPA and inspectors from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) conducted a compliance evaluation inspection.

EPA officials allegedly observed Federal RCRA violations relating to the company’s management of hazardous waste in containers and tanks. Specific alleged violations include but are not limited to:

• Accumulation of hazardous waste hydranal in a one-liter container that was not marked with an indication of the contents in a Satellite Accumulation Area.
• Accumulation of used oil in drain pans that were not labeled with the words “Used Oil.”
• Management of hazardous waste in a tank that was equipped with a manway opening that was not closed as designed and therefore stored hazardous waste without a permit or interim status.
• Failure to conduct annual visual inspections of the fixed roof and its closure devices on that hazardous waste tank.

An aquarium design company has been ordered to stop selling five products and faces a $226,652 penalty.

The company has been ordered to stop selling five unregistered pesticide products that are intended to destroy aquarium pests. The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act requires products that claim to kill, destroy, prevent, or repel pests to be registered with EPA to ensure they perform as intended and are appropriately labeled before distribution or sale.

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Tags: EPA, EPA Enforcement Roundup, FIFRA, hazardous waste management, RCRA