MAY 27, 2015
FALL RIVER, MASS.
Under the terms of a settlement with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, Precise Packaging, a local aerosol company, will spend nearly $150,000 in emergency response equipment for the Fall River Fire Department.
According to the EPA, Precise Packaging was found to have violated the Clean Air Act when it failed to develop a risk management plan meant to prevent or mitigate any chemical spills in its Fall River Industrial Park facility. The company will also pay a civil penalty of $57,369 for the violation.
“EPA is pleased that this settlement means that the Fall River community is better protected, because the company chose to settle this case in a way that better equips Fall River’s emergency responders, whose safety is on the line whenever a chemical accident occurs in the city,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office in a release.
Among the items Precise Packaging agreed to purchase for the city fire department is a fully equipped SUV to be used as a command vehicle to respond to chemical spills, valued at $52,000, and to replace the fire department’s current 10-year-old vehicle. The funding will also allow the purchase of mobile computers, portable decontamination showers and hazardous chemical meters, as well as a firefighter accountability system and software.
“The hard work done by the EPA and the targeted settlement which directly addressed our public safety response couldn’t have come at a better time for our city," Mayor Sam Sutter stated in a release. "EPA’s work to reduce the chances of accidental chemical releases and the agreement assistance given directly to our fire department to respond if there is a failure, helps make each and every one of us a little safer.”
EPA’s settlement with Precise Packaging comes after earlier compliance actions, including an administrative order on consent in July which the company has been coming into compliance with risk management plans regulations.