Enforcement and Inspection

The Latest Enviro Enforcement Actions (Part 1)

Take a look at how water woes, air and pesticide violations, and WPS issues came into play in recent environmental enforcement actions. One of the fines (levied against Amazon) was seven figures!

Water Woes

Middletown

Ohio                                                      Region 5

CWA violations: The EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reached an agreement with the city of Middletown, Ohio, for violations of Clean Water Act (CWA) regulations. According to the EPA, Middletown had discharges of untreated sewage into the Great Miami River and Hydraulic Canal. The city discharges millions of gallons of untreated sewage every year from its sewer system during and after rain events through its eight combined sewer overflow (CSO) outfalls.

Penalty: $55,000 fine. Middletown will spend approximately $269 million to construct storage basins and other improvements to its sewer system and sewage treatment plant over the next 25 years. In addition, the city will spend $200,000 on a project in the canal to protect aquatic life from contaminated sediments.

 

Heavy Fines for Air Violations

Shell Chemical LP

Louisiana                                                             Region 6

CAA violations: The EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) announced that Shell was in violation of Clean Air Act (CAA) regulations and state laws and regulations at its chemical plant located in Norco, Louisiana. The company failed to properly operate industrial flares at the facility.

Penalty: $262,500 fine to the EPA and a $87,500 fine to the LDEQ. In addition, Shell will spend approximately $10 million to install and operate a flare gas recovery system, install and monitor monitoring and control technology at its flares, and install and maintain monitoring equipment to detect air pollution at its Norco facility.

 

Worker Protection Standard Violations

Syngenta Seeds, LLC

Hawaii                                                  Region 9

FIFRA, WPS violations: According to the EPA, Syngenta Seeds was in violation of the Agricultural Worker Protection Standard (WPS) under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The EPA found that, in two separate incidents at its Kekaha farm in Hawaii, Syngenta failed to notify workers verbally and with signage to avoid fields recently treated with pesticides, resulting in exposure and hospitalization of workers. The company also failed to provide adequate decontamination supplies on-site and failed to prompt transportation to a medical facility for exposed workers.

Penalty: $150,000 fine. In addition, the company will spend approximately $400,000 on eleven worker protection training sessions for growers in Hawaii, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. The company will also develop a curriculum and training materials tailored to local growers that face pesticide compliance challenges related to language, literacy, geographic, and cultural factors. Syngenta Seeds will create compliance kits in English, Mandarin, Korean, Tagalog, and Ilocano for use at these trainings and for wider distribution in the agricultural community. The company will make these kits available online to the public for 3 years after the trainings are complete.

 

Company Pays Huge Fine for Pesticide Violations

Amazon Services LLC

Washington                                                       Region 10

FIFRA violations: In March 2015, inspectors from EPA’s Region 10 were able to successfully order illegal pesticides from Amazon.com. In August 2015, the EPA issued a FIFRA Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Order. In June 2016, the EPA issued another Stop Sale Order after discovering that certain unregistered or misbranded insecticide bait products were being offered for sale. After Amazon received the stop sale orders, the company removed the illegal products from the marketplace and prohibited foreign sellers from selling pesticides.

Penalty: $1,215,700 fine. Amazon also refunded approximately $130,000 to the customers that purchased the illegal pesticides between 2013 and 2016. Amazon contacted the customers that purchased the products and made them aware of safety concerns. Amazon urged customers to dispose of the products. Amazon will develop an online training course on pesticide regulations and policies in English, Spanish, and Chinese. Successful completion of the training will be mandatory for all entities planning to sell pesticides on Amazon.com.

 

Be on the lookout for more recent enforcement actions in tomorrow’s EHS Daily Advisor.

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