Environmental Enforcement Roundup: AZZ, Hartley Farms, H. Krevit

Here’s a roundup of the latest environmental enforcement stories.

Oregon-based farm and trucking company Hartley Farms and Valley Trucking has agreed to pay a $34,000 penalty for spilling diesel fuel at the Hartley Farms property near Nyssa, Oregon in violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

On February 23, 2010, the company spilled approximately 2,500 gallons of diesel from a 10,000-gallon storage tank and fuel tanker truck when the truck attempted to decant fuel into the already almost full storage tank.

The discharge of diesel from the facility caused a sheen on the surface of the Old Owyhee Ditch, which flows into the Owyhee River. Valley Trucking responded quickly to the spill and cleanup was completed in March 2010, the EPA said.

Three companies based in the Phoenix, Ariz., area have been fined for violating state and federal hazardous waste laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced last week.

Inspectors from the EPA and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality found numerous hazardous waste violations during inspections in 2008 and 2009 at Acme Aerospace, AZZ Galvanizing Services, and Hexcel Corporation.

In separate actions, the manufacturing and processing companies will pay penalties that total $131,000.

Tempe-based Acme Aerospace, now under new management, designs and manufactures custom batteries and battery control electronic systems for military and commercial aircraft applications. Acme was fined $31,000.

AZZ Galvanizing Services, the nation’s largest galvanizer, which “hot-dips” machinery to prevent corrosion at its Goodyear facility, was fined $79,700.

Casa Grande-based Hexcel Corporation develops and manufactures composites for use in commercial aerospace, wind energy and industrial applications. Hexcel Corporation was fined $20,000.

During multiple inspections, the EPA and the ADEQ inspectors found the facilities violated hazardous waste laws in a variety of ways, including:

• Failing to maintain the facility to minimize the possibility of a release of hazardous waste to air, soil, or surface water that could threaten human health or contaminate the environment
• Failing to label containers of hazardous waste, which increases the possibility of improper handling of the waste
• Storing hazardous waste for over 90 days without a permit

A chemical manufacturing and distribution plant in New Haven, Conn., has agreed to pay a $12,626 penalty and to spend about $40,000 to buy emergency response equipment for the City’s fire department to settle claims by the EPA that it violated federal air, water and right-to-know laws.

The EPA alleged that H. Krevit failed to:

• Develop and put in place a risk management plan, for the storage of concentrated hydrochloric acid, in violation of Clean Air Act Section 112(r) and the chemical release prevention requirements
• Submit emergency and hazardous chemical inventory forms to local and state emergency responders, in violation of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act;
• Develop and implement a spill prevention control and countermeasure plan, as required by the Clean Water Act.

The company, which stores chemicals in above ground tanks, sits near the Quinnipiac River. The company has corrected the violations, and was cooperative with the EPA throughout the inspection and enforcement process, according to the agency.

H. Krevit formulates, repackages, and resells packaged water treatment chemicals. The company, which sells mainly to the water treatment and metal finishing industries, will also investigate if it can further reduce risk from its operations to the environment.