EPA Settles Case Alleging Chemical Reporting Violations at St. Marys, Pa. Plant

Press release:

EPA Settles Case Alleging Chemical Reporting Violations

at St. Marys, Pa. Plant

PHILADELPHIA (Oct. 23, 2012) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Mersen USA St. Marys-PA Corp. (Mersen) will pay a $79,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of toxic chemical reporting requirements. According to EPA, the company failed to timely submit required reports on toxic chemicals at its manufacturing plant in St. Marys, Pa.

EPA cited the company for violating the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).This federal law requires companies that process, manufacture or use more than a threshold amount of regulated toxic chemicals to report annually their releases and transfers of these chemicals. The reports are filed with the EPA and state, and the data are made available to the public through the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data system. The TRI includes information on disposal and releases of more than 650 toxic chemicals at thousands of U.S. facilities. The TRI also provides information on how facilities manage those chemicals through recycling, energy recovery, and treatment.

The EPCRA law also requires facilities to report on their hazardous chemicals to state and local emergency response agencies. This information helps communities and first responders to prepare for chemical emergencies.

According to EPA, Mersen did not submit timely annual reports for four EPCRA-regulated chemicals (lead compounds, polycyclic aromatic compounds, copper, and benzo(g,h,i)perylene). This case involved alleged reporting violations, and not unlawful releases of these chemicals.

The settlement penalty reflects the company's cooperation with EPA in resolving the alleged violations.

For more information on EPCRA, visit http://www.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/epcra/   EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory - a public, searchable database of toxic chemicals at thousands of facilities nationwide - is available at ttp://www.epa.gov/tri/.