NEDAK Ethanol to Pay $3,600 Penalty, Purchase Radios, Install Leak Sensors, for Failure to Develop Risk Management Plan (NE)
Environmental News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Kansas City, Kan., Aug. 22, 2011) - NEDAK
Ethanol, LLC, an alternative fuels manufacturer, has agreed to pay
a civil penalty of $3,600 to the United States for failing to
develop a Risk Management Program and file a Risk Management Plan
for its ethanol production facility at Atkinson, Neb.
As part of an administrative civil settlement
with EPA Region 7, NEDAK Ethanol has also agreed to spend at least
$17,900 on a supplemental environmental project. As part of that
project, the company has agreed to spend approximately $8,700 to
purchase six headset radios and five handheld radios for the
Atkinson Fire Department to enable more effective communications
during emergency response operations. The company will also spend
approximately $9,200 to purchase and install an ammonia leak
detector system and combustible gases sensor at its Atkinson
facility.
According to an administrative consent agreement
filed by EPA in Kansas City, Kan., the Agency inspected NEDAK
Ethanol’s Atkinson facility in April 2010 and found that it
had not developed a Risk Management Program nor had it filed a Risk
Management Plan. Under the federal Clean Air Act, NEDAK Ethanol was
required to take those actions because its facility had quantities
of flammable pentane and butane in excess of regulatory thresholds.
Flammable substances commonly used in the ethanol manufacturing
process can make facilities subject to Risk Management Program
regulations.
EPA enforces the Risk Management Program
regulations of the Clean Air Act with a goal of preventing
accidental chemical releases and minimizing the impact of releases
or other accidents that may occur.
Establishment of Risk Management Programs and
formulation of Risk Management Plans helps companies operate
responsibly, assists emergency responders by providing vital
information necessary for them to address accidents and other
incidents, protects the environment by preventing and minimizing
damage from accidental releases, and keeps communities
safer.
Learn more about the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Plan Rule
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