EPA Proposes to Add Battery Smelter Facility in Arecibo, Puerto Rico to Federal Superfund List Land contaminated with lead, arsenic and heavy metals
09/07/2016
Contact Information:
Elias Rodriguez (rodriguez.elias@epa.gov)
(212) 637-3664
(New York, N.Y. – Sept. 7, 2016) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today proposed adding a former battery recycling facility in Arecibo, Puerto Rico to its Superfund National Priorities List of the country’s most hazardous sites. As a result of previous operations, the site is contaminated with lead, arsenic and heavy metals. Before it stopped operating in 2014, The Battery Recycling Company, Inc. took in tons of used batteries each month and smelted them into lead ingots.
Children’s developing bodies are especially vulnerable to the harmful effects of lead. Lead is a neuro toxin and increasing amounts build up in the body. Long-term exposure to lead can result in severe damage to the blood-forming organs, and the nervous, urinary and reproductive systems. Even at low levels, lead in children can lower I.Q.s, cause learning disabilities, impaired hearing, reduced attention spans, hyperactivity and other behavior problems. Lead exposure can also cause health problems in pregnant women and harm fetuses. Arsenic and other heavy metals can also damage people’s health.
“Lead from The Battery Recycling Company, Inc. facility has polluted the air and land in this Arecibo community and even spread to the homes of workers. This is why we have worked extensively to address the lead contamination in this site. Now, by adding the site to our federal Superfund list, the EPA will make cleaning up the Battery Recycling site a national priority," said EPA’s Caribbean Environmental Division’s Director Carmen R. Guerrero Pérez.
The Battery Recycling Company, Inc. took in used batteries, smelted the lead, and in the process generated large quantities of waste, including lead slag and lead-contaminated dust. Workers also carried lead dust on their clothes and equipment into their cars and homes, putting their families and others at risk.
In 2010 and 2011, the EPA conducted a series of inspections of the facility to determine its compliance with federal laws and regulations. Various enforcement actions were taken against the company including issuance of an EPA administrative order in June 2011 under which the company agreed to, among other things, clean up and prevent sources of lead dust at the facility. EPA also assessed homes and vehicles of former company employees that had become contaminated with lead dust from the facility. The EPA evaluated 202 homes and 282 vehicles, and the company then cleaned up 149 residential properties and 145 vehicles under the order with EPA oversight. Following the shutdown of the facility in 2014, the company stopped complying with the order, and EPA took over the work. EPA then worked to stabilize lead slag piles and contaminated waste water to minimize the most immediate releases at the site. That work is ongoing.
After receiving a letter from the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board supporting the inclusion of the Arecibo site on the federal Superfund list, the EPA has determined that a listing offers the best course of action to protect human health and clean up the contamination. The Superfund final designation makes sites eligible for funds to conduct long-term cleanups.
The Superfund program operates on the principle that polluters should pay for the cleanups rather than passing the costs on to taxpayers. The EPA searches for parties legally responsible for contaminating a site, and holds those parties accountable for cleanup costs.
For Federal Register notices and supporting documents for these final and proposed sites, visit: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/current-npl-updates-new-proposed-npl-sites-and-new-npl-sites. With the proposal of this site to the NPL, a 60-day comment period will begin during which the EPA solicits public input regarding this action. For instructions on how to submit comments, go to: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/public-comment-process
Comments can be submitted, identified by Docket number by one of the following methods:
Docket number (EPA-HQ-OLEM-2016-0435) for the site.
Follow the online instructions for submitting comments at http://www.regulations.gov:.
Email: superfund.docket@epa.gov
Company Overview
The Battery Recycling Company,
Inc. operates as a secondary lead smelting company in the United States.
The company engages in the collection and recycling of lead/acid
batteries (motor vehicles). It recycles batteries, separating solid
metals, plastics, and acid for further processing. The company exports
pure lead, refine lead alloys, and other materials recovered in the
process of recycling industrial and consumer lead/acid batteries. The
Battery Recycling Company, Inc. was founded in 1994 and is based in
Arecibo, Puerto Rico.
our process
The Battery Recycling Company, Inc., is a battery recycling and secondary lead smelting operation.
Our process begins with the break down of batteries in a hammer mill, which separates components by density. In the secondary lead smelting process, two rotating furnaces are used, powered by used motor oil. After that, the lead is transferred to one of nine (9) refining kettles to obtain 99.99 % pure lead, or, the one of different alloys requested by our clients. This ends with the emission and/or particle control system which consists of two bag houses with eight filters compartments each. And each one is connected to an emission stack.
environmental responsibility
The inappropriate tossing of lead/acid batteries causes a serious environmental and contamination problem in Puerto Rico’s landfills. Reducing their usefulness and also created underground landfills for the same purpose. This is why The Battery Recycling Company, Inc., was created and for the past 17 years it has contributed significantly to improving the environment. By detouring most of used batteries, an average of 2,000,000 batteries a year, to our services, they no longer overcrowd and contaminate our landfills. By promoting the recycling and re-use of these, we provide raw material for manufacturers that will have future use in new product.Inside our commitment with the environment, we not only recycle used batteries, but also recycle in our operations used motor oil, used oil filters, and metal scrap. All these are surplus or refuse of local industry production. Yet they are vital to our process of secondary lead smelting.
The Battery Recycling, Company, Inc., in actuality exports 100 % of the refined lead it produces as raw material to manufacturers of lead products such as batteries, ammunition, balance weights, automobile industry, and construction industry. This product is exported to the Unites States, Central America, South America, Asia and India, among others that contribute with foreign income to the development of Puerto Rico’s Economy.