CHICAGO (June 24, 2004) -- U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Region 5 recently settled administrative cases involving hazardous
chemical reporting violations with Kohl's Foods, Milwaukee, Wis.,
and Steel Dynamics, Butler, Ind. Separately, complaints were recently
filed against Sewall Gear Manufacturing, St. Paul, Minn., and U.S.
Aluminate Co., Ashtabula, Ohio.
Kohl's paid $140,000 to resolve EPA's complaint for failing to
promptly notify the National Response Center and the local emergency
response commission during an accidental release of 3,800 pounds
of ammonia from its warehouse at 11100 W. Burleigh St. on Sept.
10, 2002. A required written follow-up report was also filed late,
39 days after the incident. The incident occurred when pressure
relief components in the facility's refrigeration system failed.
A vapor cloud caused several nearby businesses to be evacuated.
Steel Dynamics paid $40,700 to resolve EPA's complaint for failure
to properly report a release of 2,000 gallons of spent "pickle
liquor" containing ferrous chloride on January 18, 1999, from
its facility at 4500 County Road 59. The release was reported to
the National Response Center eight days after it occurred. In addition
to violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know
portion of the Superfund law, the complaint also included a violation
of the Clean Water Act because the spill eventually reached the
Solomon Shank Ditch, a public waterway.
In addition, EPA Region 5 filed a civil complaint proposing a
$58,000 penalty against Sewall Gear Manufacturing. The company
was cited for failure to submit to the Minnesota emergency response
commission and the local fire department the required 2002 chemical
inventory forms documenting the storage of 10,000 pounds of liquid
nitrogen. The company was also cited previously for hazardous materials
recordkeeping violations in 2001.
In a fourth case, a recent EPA complaint proposes a $124,550 penalty
against U.S. Aluminate. The company was cited for failure to promptly
notify the National Response Center, the Ohio Emergency Response
Commission and the Ashtabula County local emergency planning committee
of a 44,987-pound release of 50 percent sodium hydroxide solution
on July 18, 2003. U.S. Aluminate was also late in submitting a
required follow-up report to the local emergency response planning
committee.
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