EPA
San Francisco Food Processor Settles with EPA Involving Anhydrous Ammonia Releases
San Francisco food processor Columbus Manufacturing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Columbus Foods LLC, has agreed to $6 million in upgrades and a nearly $700,000 fine following two incidents that caused the release of two hazardous ammonia clouds that left 17 people hospitalized....
EPA Offers First Look at Greenhouse Gas Reporting System Data
EPA recently announced the availability of the first wave of data from its new greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting system. Communities can access the 2010 GHG data from more than 6,700 facilities to identify nearby sources of GHGs, help businesses compare and track emissions and inform policy for state and local governments...
EPA Issues Historic National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants
EPA on Dec. 21 issued the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, the first national standards to protect Americans from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air pollution like arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium and cyanide. The standards will slash emissions of these substances by relying on widely available, proven pollution controls that are already in use at more than half of the nation's coal-fired power plants. ...
Inspector General: EPA's Unapproved Asbestos Removal Methods May Put Workers, Public at Risk
In a Dec. 14 report, EPA Inspector General Arthur A. Elkins Jr. addressed EPA's authorization of unapproved methods of asbestos removal at its own sites. Elkins called for a halt to these unapproved methods, which may violate OSHA requirements and potentially expose workers to carcinogens, and said the agency should notify any workers or residents who may have been exposed to asbestos as a result...
Chemical Safety Board: Oil and Gas Exploration and Production Sites Are Hazardous to the Public
At a press conference in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Oct. 27, the Chemical Safety Board (CSB) issued recommendations to EPA, state regulators, the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) aimed at reducing fires and explosions at oil and gas exploration and production facilities. A new report from CSB identifies 26 incidents since 1983 that killed 44 people and injured 25 others under the age of 25...
Louisiana Oil Company Pleads Guilty to Clean Air Act Violations, Faces $10 Million Fine
A recent plea agreement reached by Pelican Refining Co. LLC, the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA will make the Louisiana coastline safer for people, wildlife, fish and yes, pelicans...
Managing Compliance: Declassified Confidential Business Information: Is Your Product Next?
How will EPA’s more stringent policy for the review and submission of confidential business information impact your company?...
EPA Places Former Mine CEO on Its "Most Wanted" List
Peter Martin Kuhn, former president and CEO of French Gulch Nevada Mining Corp. and Bullion River Gold Corp., has earned a spot on EPA’s fugitive list. The agency claims that Kuhn engaged in a conspiracy to illegally dispose of mining wastes and then failed to surrender to authorities following his July 2010 indictment...
New EPA Rule Aims to Strengthen Chemical Reporting
In an effort to better identify risks to public health and the environment, EPA recently published the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule that will require chemical manufacturers to report more information about their chemicals...
Contamination from Coal Ash at Some Sites High Enough to Trigger ‘Open Dumping’ RCRA Provisions
A new report from the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) claims 33 coal ash dump sites in 19 states are contaminating groundwater with arsenic, lead and other toxins. According to EIP, these sites may be violating a federal ban on open dumping...
Managing Compliance: Hazardous Waste Management: Understanding EPA and State-Level Categories, Numbers and Reports
Many companies often are surprised to discover exactly how much hazardous waste they generate. A company can be considered a hazardous waste generator if it uses, produces or stores anything from oil-based paint to hydrofluoric acid...
EPA Reaches Landmark Clean Air Act Settlement with TVA
EPA and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) have reached a settlement that will require TVA to invest an estimated $3-$5 billion to modernize its coal-fired power plants and provide state-of-the-art pollution controls and clean energy technology...
Relationship between Clean Air and Asthma Examined
A new report, analyzing detailed asthma incidence and cost data, concludes that the already staggering human and financial toll of asthma in the United States likely will increase if Congress acts to stop updates to the Clean Air Act (CAA)...
Managing Compliance: Enhancing Chemical Management within the Framework of Existing TSCA Regulations
Since its promulgation in 1976, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which is administered by EPA, has focused on human health and the environment, with the overarching goals of evaluating risks and assessing human health and environmental effects before a chemical is introduced into commerce...
Refinery to Pay More Than $5.3 Million Penalty for Clean Air Act Violations
EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement in which Hovensa LLC, owner of the second largest petroleum refinery in the United States, to pay a civil penalty of more than $5.3 million and spend more than $700 million in new pollution controls that will help protect public health and resolve Clean Air Act violations at its St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands refinery...
EPA Pulls the Permit for Arch Coal’s Mountain Top Mining
EPA on Jan. 13 revoked the permit for a controversial mine that proposed taking the tops off of some of West Virginia’s mountains. Mingo-Logan Coal Co.’s proposed Spruce No. 1 Mine has been controversial since the Bush administration in 2007 issued the company the permits necessary to move forward with the mountaintop mining operation in Logan County...
Managing Compliance: New Year, New Compliance Challenges
Environment, health and safety regulations are increasing in volume and complexity, which in turn makes the associated compliance tasks increasingly difficult to manage...
OMB Watch: Obama Administration Stepping Up Enforcement of Labor Laws
In a report released Dec. 8, OMB Watch examined the regulatory enforcement actions of the Obama administration at its midterm point and revealed that executive branch agencies have stepped up enforcement of a number of important labor, consumer protection and environmental laws and regulations...
Experts: Major Issues Facing EPA as it Turns 40
As EPA turns 40, two scientists who have served on research review panels for the agency talk about the challenges facing the agency...
EPA Identifies Areas Violating Lead Standards
EPA has determined that 16 areas across the country are not meeting the agency’s national air quality standards for lead. These areas, located in 11 states, were designated as “nonattainment” because their 2007 to 2009 air quality monitoring data showed that they did not meet the agency’s health-based standards...
EPA Fines Western Refining Southwest Inc. for Illegally Disposing of Hazardous Waste and Improper Sampling
EPA fined Western Refining Southwest Inc. for failing to adequately monitor benzene discharges and illegally disposing hazardous waste. The company is in noncompliance of a Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) filed in August 2009...
HPI Products Inc. and Owner to Pay $150,000 in Environmental Penalties
HPI Products Inc., of St. Joseph, Mo., along with an affiliated property holding corporation and the owner of both companies, have agreed to pay a total of $150,000 in civil penalties, in addition to covering undetermined cleanup costs at six of their chemical processing and manufacturing facilities, to settle a series of alleged violations of state and federal environmental laws...
New York Air Monitoring Firm, Supervisors Found Guilty of Fraud and Conspiracy
EPA and the U.S. Justice Department announced today that a federal jury in Utica, N.Y. has found Certified Environmental Services Inc. (CES); two of its managers, Nicole Copeland and Elisa Dunn; and one of its employees, Sandy Allen, guilty of conspiring to aid and abet Clean Air Act violations, commit mail fraud and defraud the United States...
EPA Proposes to Add Nine Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
EPA is proposing to add nine hazardous waste sites that pose risks to human health and the environment to the general Superfund section of the National Priorities List (NPL). Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the most complex, uncontrolled or abandoned hazardous waste sites in the country...
EPA’s Clean Air Act Turns 40
As part of the activities commemorating EPA’s 40th anniversary, the agency is highlighting progress made under the 40 years of the Clean Air Act (CAA) at a conference in Washington, D.C...
