Cardolite Corporation has admitted to violating the Water Pollution Control Act.
Cardolite, which manufactures the “world’s largest variety of products derived from cashew nutshell liquid, a renewable natural source,” pleaded guilty to six charges of not properly discharging waste.
According to local media, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) learned that Cardolite, which formerly operated a plant in Newark, was not properly monitoring or reporting the pH levels in its discharges into the public sewer system. The DEP then reported the situation to federal prosecutors, who secretly installed a pH monitor at the company’s wastewater discharge sites.
Companies are required by law to maintain a pH level between 5.0 and 10.5 for at least an hour in wastewater discharges. When the pH level falls out of that range, companies are supposed to self-report to the DEP.
Federal prosecutors on the case said that Cardolite abused the self-reporting scheme by having its employees remove the calibration probe anytime an alarm went off.
The six violations in the suit occurred between April 22 and July 14, 2015.
The company will have to pay a $100,000 fine and $53,000 in restitution to a local sewerage commission who assisted the investigation.
The state’s attorney general, Christopher S. Porrino, said the case should send a message to other companies that attempt to take advantage of self-monitoring requirements.
“When so many of our environmental laws require self-regulations, this case should serve as an important reminder to our regulated communities that we will not tolerate misreporting and failures to comply,” he said.
No damage to the environment has been reported from the unlawful discharges.