Industrial Laundry in Lebanon, N.H. Faces Fine for Clean Water Violations

News Release
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
New England Regional Office
August 28, 2012

Contact: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

Industrial Laundry in Lebanon, N.H. Faces Fine for Clean Water Violations

(Boston, Mass. – Aug. 28, 2012) – An industrial laundry facility in Lebanon, N.H. faces a penalty of $64,000 from the US Environmental Protection Agency for several violations of federal water laws, including discharging water containing detergent to the city’s public wastewater system which caused excessive foaming in the Connecticut River.

According to a complaint filed recently by EPA’s New England office, UniFirst Corp. discharged wastewater containing industrial grade detergent into the public wastewater system in Nov. 2010 and failed to immediately notify the city of the discharge.  Both actions violated the Clean Water Act. The complaint also details that in 2011 UniFirst discharged wastewater with a high acidity, also in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

UniFirst operates an on-site wastewater treatment system that introduces process wastewater into the City of Lebanon’s system, which in turn discharges treated wastewaters into the Connecticut River.  The detergent violations caused the city to be out of compliance with its own National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit regulating its wastewater system.

Discharges of ­­prohibited effluents from industrial users can present a risk to nearby waters and aquatic life. An industrial user’s failure to immediately notify the local wastewater treatment system and any other applicable state or federal emergency responders undermines their ability to promptly respond to a potential threat.

More information on enforcement of Clean Water Act in New England http://www.epa.gov/region1/enforcement/water/index.html

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New Jersey Composter Taps Food Waste Opportunities :: BioCycle, Advancing Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy

New Jersey Composter Taps Food Waste Opportunities :: BioCycle, Advancing Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy

AG Choice Organics Recycling in Sussex County, New Jersey, grew out of a sawmill business that Jay Fischer started with his parents back in 1997. The Fischers had been selling sawdust to area horse farms for bedding and noticed many had an issue with stockpiled manure (an average horse can produce 9 tons a year). “We don’t have a lot of large farms around here,” explains Jay Fischer. “They are mostly smaller farmettes with two or three horses — and they don’t have the acreage to land apply the manure.” So the Fischers began hauling it back to their facility to compost — their first foray into organics recycling.

In 2005, Jay and his wife, Jill, incorporated Ag Choice as a full-fledged business and soon started taking in food waste from four ShopRite grocery stores, providing them with sealed 15 cubic yard (cy) lockable roll-off containers and utilizing their own trucks for hauling. Feedstock sources now include six ShopRites, two Costcos, the New Jersey Food Bank, a wholesale fruit and vegetable distributor, the occasional tractor trailer load full of spoiled bananas or sweet potatoes, and industrial organics from manufacturers arriving in packaging or containers ranging from individual packets to 55-gallon drums.

For more, click the link below:

New Jersey Composter Taps Food Waste Opportunities :: BioCycle, Advancing Composting, Organics Recycling & Renewable Energy

News Release from EPA Region 7 - Cedar Valley Electroplating

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA Region 7 Orders Cedar Valley Electroplating in Cedar Falls, Iowa, to Take Immediate Action to Address Hazardous Wastes

Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 9, 2012) - EPA Region 7 is ordering Cedar Valley Electroplating L.L.C., a metal electroplating business, to take a series of immediate actions to address multiple issues with leaking tanks and containers of hazardous waste at its facility in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Under a unilateral administrative order issued by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., Cedar Valley Electroplating – and R Squared Properties, L.L.C., which owns the property at 5611 Westminster Drive in Cedar Falls where the business is located – are ordered to: 

• Immediately comply with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and its implementing regulations.
• Immediately identify and contain any leaking tanks, containers or other vessels on the property.
• Identify all solid and hazardous wastes currently being treated, stored or disposed at the facility.
• Restrict access to solid and hazardous wastes that have been stored and/or disposed at the facility and to areas on the property where hazardous material has been released.
• Develop a plan for the immediate cleanup of releases, an investigation to determine if wastes have migrated off the property, and the cleanup of the building and any surrounding areas that may have been contaminated by the releases. 

Cedar Valley Electroplating is located in an industrial park area of southwest Cedar Falls, approximately 700 feet southeast of a child care facility, approximately 1,000 feet east of a stream, and approximately 1,300 feet east and southwest of the nearest residences.

EPA’s order notes that the business, which ceased operating in 2011, was inspected by EPA representatives in September 2005 and again in September 2010. The 2005 inspection resulted in the business being cited for failure to make a hazardous waste determination on 28 55-gallon containers of waste material. The 2010 inspection cited those same issues, and issues with additional containers.

EPA representatives visited the facility again last week and noted numerous totes, tanks, drums and other containers and materials stored in an unsafe manner throughout the facility, including numerous containers that were open and several that were leaking. Some of the hazardous wastes identified during the limited visit included chromium, ferric sulfate, ferric chloride, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hypochlorite and sodium hydroxide. During the visit, an EPA representative noted that the containers of chemicals cited in the 2005 and 2010 inspections were still present at the facility, but that some of the containers had since deteriorated to the point of leaking their contents.

Violations of EPA’s order could subject the respondents to civil penalties of at least $7,500 per violation per day. Violations could also trigger unilateral actions by EPA to carry out the terms of the order, under its legal authority. The Agency could also seek judicial enforcement of the order.

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News Release from EPA - Armstrong Envtl. Svc.

Armstrong Environmental Services to Pay $35,000 Penalty for Clean Water Act Violations at Lancaster, Pa. Facility 

(PHILADELPHIA – March 1, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with Armstrong Environmental Services (AES) over alleged Clean Water Act violations at the company’s waste processing and disposal facility in Lancaster, Pa. AES agreed to pay a $35,000 penalty for allegedly exceeding permit limits when discharging industrial wastewater pollutants to the City of Lancaster Wastewater Treatment Plant in Lancaster County, Pa. The settlement also requires the company take actions to minimize the likelihood of future violations.

EPA’s complaint alleged AES exceeded its pretreatment permit discharge limits for pollutants oil and grease, pH and copper for a period of five-years. As part of the settlement, AES did not admit liability for the alleged violations, but has certified that it is now in compliance with applicable Clean Water Act requirements.
 The Clean Water Act requires companies discharging pollutants to publicly owned wastewater treatment works (POTWs) to obtain a permit from the POTW limiting the amount of pollution that may be discharged to the plant. This usually requires some type of pretreatment by the discharging facility.

Pretreatment permit limits for pollutants are established in order to prevent impairment of waterways, either as a result of pollutants passing through the POTW -- or interference with the functioning of the treatment plant.

For more information about pretreatment requirements visit:

http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=3

Cleanup Complete at Superfund Site

News release from EPA Region 2:

Cleanup Complete at Hiteman Leather Superfund Site

In West Winfield, New York

Site Ready for Redevelopment

Contact: Larisa Romanowski, (518) 747-4389, romanowski.larisa@epa.gov  

(New York, N.Y. – Feb. 13, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has completed the cleanup of the Hiteman Leather Superfund site, a former tannery in West Winfield, New York, and deleted it from the Superfund National Priorities List of the county’s most hazardous waste sites. Soil and sediment on the site was contaminated with chromium, a dangerous metal that can cause serious health effects. After a review of conditions at the site, the EPA has determined that the cleanup continues to protect people’s health and the environment.

The Hiteman Leather Company operated as a tannery on the 12-acre site from 1820 to 1968. By 1964, approximately 180,000 gallons of treated industrial wastewater was being dumped each day from the tannery into three unlined lagoons. The lagoons discharged into the Unadilla River and a nearby wetland. The company was closed in 1968 because it could not meet requirements for the proper management of wastewater. The EPA added the Hiteman Leather site to the Superfund list in 1999 after finding high levels of chromium in the soil on the site and in sediments in the adjacent wetland and river.

The EPA first demolished the contaminated, structurally unsound buildings on the site and fenced the property to restrict access. The contaminated soil from the site and contaminated sediment from the wetland and the river were excavated and consolidated on-site. A soil cover was then installed over the entire site.  

The EPA finished the cleanup work in 2008 and has continued to monitor the site. Based on the monitoring results, EPA proposed to remove the site from the NPL in December 2011 and received no comments on its proposal. The EPA will continue to assess conditions at the site every five years to ensure that the cleanup continues to be protective of human health and the environment.

In 2003, the EPA awarded a $100,000 grant to the Village of West Winfield to develop a Reuse Assessment and Redevelopment Plan for the Hiteman Leather site as part of the EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative.  The plan calls for the construction of a community center, development of recreational facilities, consolidation and modernization of the existing Department of Public Works facility, and commercial development.  With the deletion of the site from the Superfund list, West Winfield can now redevelop the site consistent with the Reuse Assessment and Redevelopment Plan.

Follow the EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

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EPA Orders Racetrack to Stop Discharges

News Release from EPA Region 6:

EPA Orders Albuquerque Racetrack to Stop Discharges to Protect Rio Grande

(DALLAS – January 25, 2012)  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued an order to halt discharges of animal waste, industrial run-off and other pollutants into the Rio Grande.  The action was taken against the Downs at Albuquerque Inc. and EXPO New Mexico, a 93-acre race track and casino in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that accommodates almost 1,400 horses during racing season.

“Companies must operate in a way that protects vital water resources,” said EPA Regional Administrator Al Armendariz.  “When a facility fails to meet its responsibilities, the EPA will work closely with our state partner agencies to enforce the law.”

On November 15, 2011, the New Mexico Environmental Department (NMED) conducted an on-site inspection and found that the facility did not have a properly designed storm water runoff containment structure.  The facility also does not have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit which allows facilities to discharge to waters of the U.S.  

Pollutants commonly associated with animal waste or manure often include nitrogen and phosphorus, organic matter, bacteria and sediments.  These pollutants can clog rivers and streams with algae, kill fish by reducing oxygen in the water, transmit waterborne diseases and impair the enjoyment of waterways.

To comply with the order, the Downs and EXPO New Mexico must immediately take all necessary actions to prevent future discharges of pollutants into U.S. waters and notify the EPA of any discharges of pollutants from the facility into waters of the U.S.  

For more information about animal feeding operations, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/afo/cafofinalrule.cfm
More about activities in EPA Region 6 is available at http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html
EPA audio file is available at http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/jan2012.html

EPA Reaches Settlement with Companies to Pay Cleanup Costs

News Release from EPA Region 3:

EPA reaches settlement with companies to pay cleanup costs for Occidental Chemical Corp. Superfund site

       PHILADELPHIA (January 25, 2012) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that current and former owners and operators of the Occidental Chemical Corporation Superfund Site in Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, Pa. have agreed to pay $2.1 million in past cleanup costs for the site.

In a consent decree filed in federal court by the Justice Department on behalf of EPA, the companies also assumed responsibility for all future cleanup costs at the site. The companies included Occidental Chemical Corporation (OxyChem), Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations and Glenn Springs Holdings, Inc.

Under the “Superfund” law, the landowners, waste generators and waste transporters that are responsible for the contamination of a Superfund site must either clean up the site, or reimburse the government or other parties for cleanup activities.

OxyChem currently owns the site where it manufactured polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic resins from 1980 to 2005. OxyChem purchased the site from Firestone Tire & Rubber Company(now known as Bridgestone Americas Tire operations), which manufactured tires and PVC there from approximately 1945 to 1980. Settling defendant Glenn Springs Holdings, Inc., a corporate affiliate of OxyChem, is the current operator of the site.   Glenn Springs assumed management of the site in 2005 after OxyChem closed its PVC-manufacturing facility.

From 1942 to 1985, operators used the site for disposal of industrial wastes including cutting oils, metal filings, tires, and PVC sludge resins. In 1989, EPA placed the site on its Superfund list of the nation’s most contaminated sites to address unsafe levels of trichloroethylene (“TCE”), vinyl chloride, and other hazardous substances in the soil and groundwater. OxyChem, under EPA oversight, performed remedial action at the site and completed construction in 2008.

            Additional information on the site is available at: http://www.epa.gov/reg3hwmd/super/sites/PAD980229298/index.htm .    

Los Alamos National Laboratory and Zero Wastewater Discharge

News Release from Los Alamos National Laboratory:

LANL achieves milestone on path to zero wastewater discharge

Improved compliance while recycling millions of gallons of industrial wastewater

LOS ALAMOS, New Mexico, January 20, 2012—Millions of gallons of industrial wastewater will be recycled at Los Alamos National Laboratory as the result of a long-term strategy to treat wastewater rather than discharging it into the environment.

The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, which issues permits for industrial and sanitary wastewater discharges, recently approved the removal of four more outfalls from the Laboratory’s permit. (An outfall is where wastewater from Lab operations is discharged down canyons.)  Only 11 outfalls remain, down from 141 in 1993. 

"One of the objectives of our Environmental Management System is to reduce liquid discharges to a single outfall by the end of 2012," said Dennis Hjeresen, Division Leader of the Environmental Protection Division at the Lab. "Removing four more facilities from our permit is an important step toward reaching that goal."

The wastewater comes from many places at the Laboratory and does many things.  It cools the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE), one of the Lab’s premier science research facilities, and the Strategic Computing Complex, which creates world-class high-performance computing systems. The water also cools the Lab’s power plant and comes out of the sanitary plant that treats water from toilets and sinks.

The treated sanitary wastewater and water flushed from cooling towers is transported to the Lab’s Sanitary Effluent Reclamation Facility (SERF). It then can be reused in cooling towers around the Lab.
"The SERF should be recycling up to 300,000 gallons per day by the summer of 2012," Hjeresen said.


About Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.

Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.

LANL news media contact: Colleen Curran, (505) 664-0344, colleen_curran@lanl.gov