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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Environment - U.S. EPA Enforcement Highlights
From a U.S. EPA press release:
CHICAGO, Nov. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 today announced that its enforcement actions in Indiana in 2006 have caused regulated entities to pay more than $27.1 million to correct past environmental violations and help prevent future ones.In the past fiscal year, EPA resolved 56 actions against regulated entities and assessed a total of more than $1.6 million in civil penalties for various air, water, hazardous waste, community right-to-know and pesticide violations. As part of settlement agreements, Indiana regulated entities also agreed to do supplemental environmental projects worth about $310,000. In addition, EPA initiated another 33 new cases in the state.
"Complying with the law is key to protecting public health and the environment," said Regional Administrator Mary A. Gade. "We and our partners at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management are committed to cleaner air, water and land for the people of Indiana."
Three of the most noteworthy cases in Indiana involved Cargill Inc.'s plants in Hammond and Lafayette, the town of Newburgh (Warrick County) and Franklin Power in Franklin.
-- Cargill, a multi-state agribusiness that owns and operates grain, bean
and seed oil processing plants, agreed to install air pollution
control equipment at 27 facilities including those in Hammond and
Lafayette. The company will pay a $1.6 million civil penalty and
spend $3.5 million on environmental projects to resolve this national
case. Cargill's plants were significant sources of volatile organic
compounds and carbon monoxide.-- The town of Newburgh (population 3,088) paid a $56,000 civil penalty
for wastewater permit violations and has already completed several
construction projects to upgrade its sewage treatment plant and
collection systems at a cost of about $6.4 million. The town's
ambitious plan emphasizes preventive measures and should reduce an
estimated 4.6 million gallons a year of sewage overflow into the Ohio
River. Newburgh is also dramatically reducing the levels of total
suspended solids, phosphorus, nitrogen and oxygen-depleting pollutants
in its discharge.-- Franklin Power Products/Remy International Inc., a diesel engine
re-builder, must pay over $850,000 in penalties for failing to comply
with a previous federal administrative order requiring it to pretreat
its wastewater for oil, grease, copper, lead, chromium and zinc.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 16, 2006 04:11 PM
Posted to Environment