National Chemical Company will Upgrade Facilities and Pay Fine to Settle Clean Air Violations ý (MI, RI)
(Boston, Mass. – July 20, 2011) –
A national company that distributes ammonia has agreed to install
and operate $345,000 in ammonia leak detection systems at 14
facilities across the country to settle claims by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency that it violated federal clean air
regulations on chemical risk management at plants in Rhode Island
and Michigan. Tanner Industries, based in Southhampton,
Penn., also agreed to pay a $56,700 penalty to settle these claims.
The regulations are meant to prevent chemical accidents.
Tanner Industries, which operates ammonia distribution facilities
across the country, including one in East Providence, R.I. and one
in Inkster, Michigan, is subject to the Clean Air Act’s risk
management planning requirements because ammonia is an extremely
hazardous substance. While Tanner did take some actions to address
the risks of an accidental release of ammonia at its facility in
Rhode Island, Tanner failed to address the risk associated with the
fact that its facility is not staffed except when ammonia is being
received or distributed there.
EPA also alleged that Tanner failed to coordinate adequate
emergency response plans with local emergency response agencies to
ensure that the public would be protected in the event of a release
of ammonia.
The new ammonia leak detectors Tanner agreed to install and operate
will alert residents in surrounding communities of accidental
releases of ammonia. Alarm signals will also be sent to emergency
response personnel so that they may address accidental ammonia
releases.
This week’s agreement involved two separate settlements with
EPA regional offices. In a settlement with EPA New England, Tanner
agreed to install and operate ammonia leak detection systems at six
Tanner facilities: Butner, N.C.; East Providence, R.I.; Tamaqua,
Penn; Philadelphia, Penn.; New Castle, Penn.; and Natalbany, La.
The company also agreed to a $28,350 penalty to settle claims of
violating the Clear Air Act at its Rhode Island plant.
In a separate settlement with EPA’s Region 5 office in
Chicago, the company agreed to install and operate detectors at
eight other Tanner facilities: Lincoln, Ala.; Inkster, Mich.;
Belvidere, Ill.; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Neosho, Mo.; Morgantown,
W.Va.; Mount Hope, W.Va.; and Fayetteville, N.C. This settlement
also requires Tanner to pay a penalty of $28,350 for violating the
Clean Air Act at its Inkster, Michigan plant. Like the East
Providence facility, the Inkster plant was only staffed at limited
times and failed to coordinate adequate emergency response plans
with local agencies to ensure that the public would be protected in
the event of a release of ammonia.
Tanner’s East Providence R.I. facility is about a tenth of a
mile from a residential neighborhood, and even closer to other
public businesses. The way the facility was operating, according to
EPA New England, if an ammonia leak occurred when the facility was
un-staffed, a cloud of ammonia gas could have reached surrounding
populated areas before emergency responders or neighbors detected
it.
Exposure to anhydrous ammonia, which is toxic and corrosive, can
result in chemical-type burns to skin, eyes, and lungs. These burns
may be serious enough to cause permanent blindness, lung disease,
or death.
More information:
- Risk Management Plans www.epa.gov/oem/content/rmp
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