This blog presents Metropolitan Engineering Consulting & Forensics (MEC&F) claim management and claim investigation analyses of some of the typical claims we handle
EPA, DOJ and IDEM Reach Agreement with Gary, Ind., to Resolve Clean Water Act Violations 12/14/2016 Contact Information: Peter Cassell (cassell.peter@epa.gov) 312-886-6234
For Immediate Release: No. 16-OPA048
CHICAGO (Dec. 14, 2016) – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Justice, and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, have reached an agreement with the city of Gary and the Gary Sanitary District that will resolve long-standing violations of the Clean Water Act, including the release of raw sewage. The city will pay a civil fine of $75,000 and take corrective steps starting immediately and continuing over the next 25 years to eliminate these problems.
“I am pleased that Mayor Freeman-Wilson is addressing this long-standing problem,” said EPA Acting Regional Administrator Robert Kaplan. “This is an important step toward cleaning up Northwest Indiana’s waterways.”
The agreement requires the city to take actions to manage sewer overflows over a 25-year period. The city must ensure the wastewater treatment plant sufficiently treats wastewater during all wet weather conditions. Gary will also develop a long-term control plan including steps to limit the occurrence of combined sewer overflows. As part of the agreement, the city will also remove invasive plants and restore native plants to an area along the Grand Calumet River, which has been affected by the contamination.
The agreement also addresses PCB contamination in an area known as the Ralston Street Lagoon. The lagoon was originally used during construction of the Indiana Toll Road. Later, it was used to dispose of PCB-contaminated sludge from the wastewater treatment plant, a violation of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. In 1988, the city stopped using the lagoon for sludge storage.
The city of Gary has 12 combined sewer outfalls: five discharge to the Little Calumet River and seven to the Grand Calumet River. When wastewater systems overflow, they can release untreated sewage and other pollutants into local waterways, threatening water quality and contributing to beach closures and health concerns. Untreated sewage contains bacteria, viruses and parasites that can cause diseases.
Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning cited for fall protection violation as worker falls in Lexington from roof as unprotected foreman stands on another New Jersey contractor cited twice in 11 months for allowing fall hazards in Massachusetts
ANDOVER, Mass. - An employee of Ned Stevens Gutter Cleaning and General Contracting of Massachusetts Inc. was injured when he fell 9 feet from a garage roof in Lexington on Oct. 24, 2016. It was the second such incident in Massachusetts in less than a year for the New Jersey-based company that specializes in cleaning gutters and roofs. On Nov. 29, 2015, another employee fell 26 feet from a roof in Newton.
An inspection by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration found that the employee working in Lexington atop a garage at 21 Adams St. lacked fall protection as did his foreman who was exposed to a 21-foot fall from the roof of the adjacent house. As a result, OSHA has now cited Ned Stevens for a repeatviolation of fall protection requirements and proposed $68,591 in fines for that violation. In March 2014, the agency cited the company for a similar hazard at a northern New Jersey worksite.
"This is a disturbing pattern - two falls, two incidents - in which this employer did not provide its employees with the proper and required safeguards. The seriousness of fall hazards cannot be understated. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports 10 workers in Massachusetts died in falls in 2014. While the workers in these two incidents were not killed, the threat of death or disabling injuries was real and present. Ned Stevens must act to protect its employees against this common but preventable hazard at all its jobsites," said Anthony Covello, OSHA's area director for Middlesex and Essex counties.
In the Newton case, OSHA cited Ned Stevens in April 2016 for two violations, with $45,500 in fines, for failing to ensure the use of protective equipment when the workers went atop the roof and not guarding two skylights through which the workers could also have fallen. Those citations and penalties are currently under contest.
Headquartered in Fairfield, New Jersey, Ned Stevens provides gutter cleaning, repair and installation and other services in 11 states, most on the Eastern seaboard as well as in Illinois and Texas. The company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Andover Area Office at 978-837-4460.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov .
Alabama auto parts supplier to Kia and Hyundai, staffing agencies face $2.5M in fines after robot fatally crushes young bride-to-be Ajin USA, Alliance Total Solutions and Joynus Staffing Corp. cited for 27 safety violations
CUSSETA, Ala. - When she wasn't employed as a temporary worker at a Cusseta manufacturer that stamps metal parts for Hyundai and Kia vehicles, Regina Allen Elsea was making final plans for her wedding and looking forward to a new life with her future husband.
On June 18, 2016, those dreams ended when the 20-year-old Elsea was crushed to death in a robotic machine. That day, the assembly line stopped and she and three of her co-workers entered a robotic station to clear a sensor fault. The robot restarted abruptly, crushing the young woman inside the machine. Her death occurred two weeks before her wedding day.
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has led the agency to issue citations for 23 willful, serious and other-than-serious violations, including 19 egregious instance-by-instance willful violations, to Joon LLC, doing business as Ajin USA of Cusseta. OSHA also cited two staffing agencies - Alliance HR Inc., doing business as Alliance Total Solutions LLC and Joynus Staffing Corp. - for two serious safety violations each. Collectively, the three companies face $2,565,621 in penalties for the federal safety and health violations.
"This senseless tragedy could have been prevented if Regina Elsea's employers had followed proper safety precautions," said Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor for Occupational Safety and Health. "In addition, it is unfortunate that Hyundai and Kia, who set strict specifications on the parts they purchase from their suppliers, appear to be less concerned with the safety of the workers who manufacture those parts."
In 2015, Dr. Michaels traveled to Korea and met with Hyundai and Kia's top managers, warning them of hazardous conditions at their suppliers, explaining to them that the automobile firms' production policies were endangering workers at the suppliers' factories.
"Kia and Hyundai's on-demand production targets are so high that workers at their suppliers are often required to work six and sometimes seven days a week to meet the targets," said Dr. Michaels. "It appears that - to reduce its own costs in meeting these targets - this supplier cut corners on safety, at the expense of workers' lives and limbs."
Failing to utilize energy control procedures to prevent machinery from starting up during maintenance and servicing.
Exposing workers to caught-in, struck-by and crushing hazards by allowing them to enter a robotic cell without shutting down and securing hazardous stored energy according to safety procedures.
Exposing employees to crushing and amputation hazards due to improper machine guarding.
OSHA issued two serious citations to Ajin USA for exposing workers to laceration hazards by allowing them to work with parts having sharp edges while improperly wearing or not wearing protective sleeves and not installing effective shields or curtains on welding machines to protect the operator and others from flying sparks.
The agency also issued two serious citations to Alliance and Joynus for failing to utilize specific safety procedures to control potentially hazardous stored energy during maintenance and servicing and not providing or ensuring employees had locks to properly shutdown machinery.
Alliance and Joynus, both based in Opelika, provide approximately 250 temporary employees to Ajin USA. Elsea was hired to work at Ajin through Alliance Total Solutions.
"This was a preventable incident - Ajin USA only had to ensure that proper safety measures were followed to de-energize the robot before the workers entered the station," said Kurt Petermeyer, OSHA's regional administrator in Atlanta. "Incidents like this one are not isolated and that is why OSHA has developed and implemented its Regional Emphasis Program on Safety Hazards in the Auto Parts Industry."
The agency has also placed Ajin USA in its Severe Violators Enforcement Program. The program focuses on recalcitrant employers that endanger workers by committing willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations. Under the program, OSHA may inspect any of the employer's facilities if it has reasonable grounds to believe there are similar violations.
Based in Korea, Ajin USA, is a global auto parts supplier with plants in South Korea, China, Vietnam and the U.S. It employs approximately 700 workers at the Cusseta facility.
Alliance Total Solutions is a staffing agency with branches in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee with over 4,000 employees. Joynus Staffing Corp. has offices in Georgia and employs over 600 workers.
To ask questions; obtain compliance assistance; file a complaint or report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Mobile Area Office at 251-441-6131.
# # #
East Alabama woman, 20, killed from workplace incident at Ajin USA
By Elizabeth White, East Alabama Bureau Chief
(Source: WTVM)
CHAMBERS COUNTY, AL (WTVM) -
Chambers County investigators shared what they
believe led up to a 20-year-old woman being impaled and crushed at an
automotive supplier on June 18.
The victim has been identified as Regina Elsea, who was newly-engaged and planning her wedding. She was critically-injured Saturday, then died on Sunday.
The
Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA - has taken the
lead on the investigation into the death at Ajin USA in Cusseta, AL.
On
Saturday around 11:00 a.m, Chambers County investigators say the
machine on Elsea’s line quit working, witnesses on her team told
investigators they tried to inform maintenance to the problem so they
could come fix it.
"They stated they did try to notify
maintenance, but to no avail, they did not answer the phone, so no one
came to their line to fix the problem,” Chambers Co. Sheriff’s Office
Investigator Shannon Fraley said. “My understanding is the victim walked
around to the back side of the machine with her back turned to the
robot and pushed something on the machine and it engaged and pushed her
from the rear crushing her against another machine.”
Investigators
say Elsea was impaled by two welding tips, as she was crushed between
two machines. Fraley says it appears the machine was not “locked out,
tagged out” meaning it wasn't turned off. He says that's standard safety
protocol for most manufactures when a repair is being made.
“In
fact, when I arrived I had to ask them to do it. It still had not been
locked out tagged out, even after the incident had taken place,” said
Fraley. The question remains, was proper safety protocols and
procedures being followed at the time of the 20-year-old's death? Before
we could get to the door, security at Ajin USA turned us away and asked
us to leave the property. Ajin USA management did release a
statement, but it did not specifically address if safety protocols were
being followed at the time of Elsea’s accident. The statement, sent from David Wilkerson, General Manager of HR and Administration with Ajin USA, reads:
Ajin
USA is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Regina Elsea. Ajin takes
any accident seriously, and a full investigation is being carried out
into the full details of the incident. In the meantime, Ajin USA is
retraining all employees on Ajin USA's safety precautions. Ajin USA will
fully cooperate with the appropriate authorities, including OSHA,
during the investigation process. The safety of our employees has been
and continues to be our greatest priority.
It could take months for OSHA to release their findings. According
to the OSHA website, they have investigated four complaints at Ajin
USA. One complaint in 2011 led to Ajiin being fined an initial penalty
of $14,500.
North Dakota Oil Spill Raises Questions About Safety
By blake nicholson and james macpherson, associated pressBISMARCK, N.D. — Dec 14, 2016, 11:25 AM ET The discovery of an oil pipeline spill earlier this month in western North Dakota has drawn heightened attention because of the battle over the Dakota Access oil pipeline being built about 150 miles to the southeast. While the spill was on a different pipeline, the Standing Rock Sioux and its supporters say a spill on the Dakota Access pipeline could threaten the tribe's drinking water, which is drawn from the Missouri River.
The developer of the Dakota Access project, Energy Transfer Partners, and the Army are battling in court over permission for the pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir in southern North Dakota. It's the last large chunk of construction for the $3.8 billion project to move North Dakota oil 1,200 miles to a shipping point at Patoka, Illinois.
Here are some questions and answers about the spill on the Belle Fourche Pipeline:
———
HOW BIG WAS THE SPILL?
The pipeline rupture spilled about 176,000 gallons of oil, about 130,000 gallons of which flowed into Ash Coulee Creek. The spill went about 5 miles down the creek, which feeds into the Little Missouri River, a tributary of the Missouri River. A photo released by the North Dakota Department of health shows the creek with a brown muck on it. Another photo shows what appears to be the pipeline break with oil oozing out.
As of Wednesday, about 46,000 gallons had been recovered.
It appears no oil got into the Little Missouri, and no drinking water sources were threatened, according to Bill Suess, an environmental scientist with the North Dakota Health Department. The creek was free-flowing when the spill occurred but has since frozen over.
The spill was in a remote area of the southwest part of the state, far from any major population centers. It fouled an unknown amount of private and U.S. Forest Service land along the waterway.
Dozens of workers have been at the site the past week in subzero temperatures cleaning the spill, which regulators don't expect to be completed until spring.
———
HOW WAS THE SPILL DISCOVERED?
A landowner spotted the spill about 16 miles northwest of the town of Belfield on Dec. 5.
Electronic monitoring equipment failed to detect the rupture, but it's not clear why, according to Wendy Owen, a spokeswoman for Casper, Wyoming-based True Cos., which operates the pipeline.
The pipeline was shut down as soon as the leak was discovered. Owen said erosion of a hillside might have ruptured the pipe, but the cause is still being investigated.
———
IS THIS A BIG SPILL?
It's sizeable, but there have been much larger oil spills in North Dakota. For example, in September 2013, a Tesoro Corp. pipeline break spilled more than 840,000 gallons of oil into a wheat field near the northwestern town of Tioga. That spill is still being cleaned up.
True Cos. has a history of spills in North Dakota and Montana, including a January 2015 pipeline break into the Yellowstone River. That 32,000-gallon spill temporarily shut down water supplies in the downstream community of Glendive, Montana, after oil was detected in the city's water treatment system.
———
IS THIS PIPELINE LIKE THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE?
It's much smaller. The 6-inch steel Belle Fourche Pipeline, built in the 1980s, is mostly underground but was built above ground where it crosses Ash Coulee Creek.
It's one of a network of thousands of miles of similar "gathering" pipelines that crisscross western North Dakota's oil patch to pick up oil from wells and carry it to collection points, where it ultimately moves into larger pipelines or railroad tankers destined for refineries across the U.S.
The Dakota Access pipeline is a much larger 30-inch steel "transmission" pipeline that will carry nearly 20 million gallons of North Dakota oil daily through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois, some 1,200 miles away.
It is largely complete except for a segment near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, where it would be buried 90 to 115 feet below Lake Oahe. Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners says the line will have modern leak detection equipment, and that workers monitoring the pipeline remotely in Texas could close valves within three minutes if a breach was detected.
The pipeline route skirts the northern edge of the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border.
The Standing Rock tribe argues that putting the pipeline under the lake imperils drinking water for more than 8,000 tribal members and millions downstream. ETP and other pipeline advocates maintain that transporting oil through pipelines is safer than shipping it by truck or train.
Investigation Underway into Cause of Rosemount Business Fire
December 14, 2016 09:31 AM
Firefighters are investigating what caused an early morning fire at a business in Rosemount on Wednesday.
The fire took place about 2 a.m. on the 1500 block of Clayton Avenue at Olson Carriers, Inc.
Crew members worked to extinguish the 4-alarm fire. Firefighters say at one point, there was a small explosion and the building collapsed.
Rosemount Fire Department Chief Rick Schroeder said there may have been 50-gallon drums of oil inside the building.
He added that the collapse and the cold conditions made fighting the fire difficult.
"It causes issues with fire lines, slippery conditions," he said. "All in all a tough battle, and then you add the cold. Makes it a lot more difficult."
Kimberly m. Aquilina The Red Cross invited all those affected by the fire to meet with caseworkers for long-term assistance.
Seven firefighters and one other were injured in the blaze.
Jim Velez
A four-alarm fire in the Bronx destroyed two homes, injured eight people and displaced six families on Tuesday.
A spokesman for the FDNY said the call came in at 11:15 a.m. triggering a large-scale response — 40 units and about 170 firefighters were on the scene.
The fire, the cause of which is under investigation, started in the rear of 2854 Briggs Ave., a two-and-a-half story private residence, and spread to the adjoining home, according to the FDNY.
The fire was under control by 1:18 p.m. Seven firefighters and one civilian were treated at local hospitals for minor injuries, an FDNY spokesman said.
The Red Cross reported 15 adults and six children were displaced. Four of the families have accepted the Red Cross' offer for emergency housing.
OSHA cites Massachusetts packaging company for serious safety, health hazards following injury to temporary worker
Shield Packaging Co. Inc., temporary staffing agencies, face total of $338K in fines
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration found a Dudley contract packager failed to inform the agency as required
that a temporary worker needed hospitalization after he sustained a
serious injury on May 26, 2016. Even worse, the employer failed to
contact emergency medical services immediately when the injury occurred.
The temporary worker at Shield Packaging Co. Inc. – which fills,
packages and ships aerosol containers – was on a production line where a
gas head injects chemicals into aerosol cans. The employee, who had not
received sufficient training, was cleaning a gas head when the
production line activated unexpectedly. The gas head needle pierced his
finger and injected him with a propellant gas which inflated his arm.
Company managers did not call 911 or other emergency services
personnel. The injured employee did call 911 but was taken in a private
vehicle to a hospital for medical treatment before emergency services
arrived. The man was hospitalized. OSHA requires employers to notify the
agency within 24 hours whenever an employee is hospitalized.
“This delay in contacting and securing professional medical help
exposed this worker and other employees to additional bodily harm or
potential permanent and disabling injuries. At a minimum, Shield
Packaging and other employers must have systems in place to ensure that
911 is called immediately after an employee suffers an injury that
requires medical care to reduce the delay in receiving professional
medical treatment,” said Mary Hoye, OSHA’s area director for central and
western Massachusetts.
OSHA’s Springfield Area Office subsequently learned of the incident
through a complaint and began an inspection on June 6, 2016, at Shield
Packaging. Soon after, inspectors expanded their investigation to
include two temporary staffing agencies which supply about 86 of the 140
workers at Shield Packaging: ASI Staffing of Leominster and Southern
Mass Staffing of Worcester.
The agency’s inspection identified several new and recurring hazards
at the plant that exposed workers to lacerations, amputation, hearing
loss, hazardous chemicals, crushing and struck-by injuries and being
unable to exit the plant safely in the event of an emergency. Specifically, Shield Packaging also failed to:
Properly guard aerosol can crimping machinery against employee contact.
Provide proper hearing protection and training to employees exposed to high noise levels.
Provide employees with and ensure the use of face shields, gloves and other protective equipment.
Ensure that designated exit routes did not pass through high hazard areas.
Develop and utilize procedures to prevent the unintended startup of
machinery during maintenance and train employees about those procedures.
Prevent the operation and use of defective powered industrial trucks.
Provide employees with information and training about the hazardous chemicals in their workplace.
As a result of these hazards, OSHA has cited Shield Packaging for 17 serious, repeat and other than serious violations
of workplace health and safety standards. Proposed penalties total
$295,967. The repeat citations involve hazards similar to those cited
during an OSHA inspection of the plant in 2013. In addition, OSHA cited:
ASI Staffing for two serious violations for not providing
required training to employees exposed to high noise levels and not
providing effective training to employees about the hazardous chemicals
in their work areas. Proposed penalties total $24,942.
Southern Mass Staffing Inc. for two serious violations for not
providing employees with hazardous energy control training and effective
training about the hazardous chemicals in their work areas. Its
proposed penalties total $17,460.
“Using temporary workers from staffing agencies does not exempt a
host employer from its responsibility to comply with OSHA requirements.
Nor are the staffing agencies exempt. Staffing agencies and host
employers are jointly responsible
for maintaining a safe work environment for temporary workers,” said
Hoye. “Employers must not use temporary workers as a way to avoid
meeting all their compliance obligations under the Occupational Safety
and Health Act and other worker protection laws;”
Each company has 15 business days from receipt of its citations
and proposed penalties to comply, meet with OSHA’s area director, or
contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and
Health Review Commission. To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or
report amputations, eye loss, workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or
situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call
OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's
Springfield office at 413-785-0123.
U.S. EPA settles with Powerstar Home Energy Solutions for failure to protect residents from lead-based paint Company to provide blood lead testing equipment to clinics in Orange and San Bernardino Counties 12/13/2016 Contact Information: Nahal Mogharabi (mogharabi.nahal@epa.gov) 213-244-1815
LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with Powerstar Home Energy Solutions for failing to comply with federal lead-based paint rules at several residential properties in Southern California. The company will pay a civil penalty of $11,429.
Powerstar has also agreed to spend about $34,000 to purchase equipment to test blood lead levels in children. Blood lead analyzers will be donated to ten community health clinics in San Bernardino and Orange counties. The analyzers measure lead in blood samples and give results in as little as three minutes, allowing immediate follow-up by health care providers. The clinics will receive enough kits to test 480 children.
“Children are highly susceptible to lead-based paint and symptoms are not easily recognized,” said Alexis Strauss, EPA’s Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “This settlement will give hundreds of families the opportunity to have their children tested, giving parents the information they need to protect their loved ones.”
Powerstar Home Energy Solutions, a trade name of Smithlum & Friend, Inc., is headquartered in Anaheim and offers residential coatings and window replacements. In 2014, EPA found the company violated EPA’s Renovation, Repair and Painting rule by renovating five homes built before 1978 in the cities of Anaheim, Brea, Chino and Redlands without following practices required to reduce lead exposure. The company failed to:
Become certified by EPA to perform residential work;
Distribute the “Renovate Right” brochure to educate occupants about lead-safe work practices;
Keep complete records documenting whether the work followed lead-safe practices.
Common renovation activities like sanding, cutting, and demolition can create hazardous lead dust and chips. When companies fail to follow lead-safe practices, the resulting lead dust and chips can contaminate home surfaces. Contractors who disturb painted surfaces in pre-1978 homes and child-occupied facilities must be trained and certified, provide educational materials to residents, and follow safe work practices. The U.S. banned lead-based paint from housing in 1978 but EPA estimates that more than 37 million older homes in the U.S. still have lead-based paint.
Though harmful at any age, lead exposure is most dangerous to children because their bodies absorb more lead, and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to its damaging effects. Babies and young children can also be more highly exposed to lead because they often put their hands and other objects that can have lead from dust or soil on them into their mouths. The effects of lead exposure can include behavior and learning problems, slowed growth, hearing problems, and diminished IQ.
Often lead poisoning occurs with no obvious symptoms, so it may go unrecognized. Parents or caregivers who think their child has been in contact with lead should notify their child's health care provider who can help decide whether a blood test is needed or recommend treatment.
EPA enforces the federal Toxic Substances Control Act and its Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule and the lead-based paint Disclosure Rule. The Renovation, Repair, and Painting rule protects residents and children from exposure to lead-based paint hazards from activities that can create hazardous lead dust when surfaces with lead-based paint are disturbed. The Disclosure Rule requires those who sell or rent housing built before 1978 to provide an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet, include lead notification language in sales and rental forms, disclose any known lead-based paint hazards and provide reports to buyers or renters, allow a lead inspection or risk assessment by home buyers and maintain records certifying compliance with applicable federal requirements for three years.
Learn more about lead poisoning and how it can be prevented: www.epa.gov/lead
Companies Operating in Norwood and Worcester Settle with EPA for Clean Water Act Violations 12/13/2016 Contact Information: EPA Public Affairs 617-918-1010
BOSTON - Manufacturing facilities in Norwood and in Worcester, subsidiaries of a multinational building materials company, have taken steps to come into compliance with federal clean water laws in order to settle claims by the US Environmental Protection Agency that they discharged stormwater and contaminated groundwater in violation of their permits and violated federal oil spill prevention and discharge laws.
Saint-Gobain Abrasives, Inc. and Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics, Inc., located at 1 New Bond St in Worcester, and CertainTeed Corp. and Bird Inc., located at 1077 Pleasant St in Norwood, all subsidiaries of Saint-Gobain Corp., agreed to pay penalties totaling more than $250,000 and to do environmental projects worth more than $200,000.
EPA alleged that all four companies failed to comply with federal discharge permits and federal Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) regulations. EPA also alleged that the Norwood facility also discharged a harmful amount of oil into the Neponset River.
The Worcester companies agreed to pay a $131,000 penalty and buy and install stormwater treatment devices in the Worcester municipal storm sewer system, costing about $100,000.
The Norwood companies agreed to pay a $120,800 penalty and fund a hotspot monitoring program and a stormwater retrofit design program, which together will cost about $100,190. The programs, which will be carried out by the Neponset River Watershed Association, are expected to reduce the impact of stormwater pollution on the Neponset River and its tributaries.
"The actions taken by these manufacturing plants resulting from these settlements will help protect our waterways, part of New England's critical natural environment," said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "This action should also encourage other companies to make sure they comply with their water discharge permits and spill prevention plans."
Saint-Gobain's Worcester facility was also ordered to eliminate unauthorized discharges by relining a subsurface pipe to eliminate the infiltration of contaminated groundwater into the pipe. EPA also ordered the Worcester facility to apply for a permit for unauthorized stormwater outfalls. The facility must also continue to investigate the reasons for elevated metal levels in stormwater, by installing control measures to minimize metals loadings and conducting monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness of those control measures.
EPA found the Worcester facility had violated and continues to violate the federal Clean Water Act by discharging unpermitted stormwater and contaminated groundwater from the facility, and by not fully investigating the reason for elevated metals levels in stormwater discharged from the facility.
Saint-Gobain is the holding company for North American operations of French materials group Compagnie de Saint-Gobain. Its subsidiaries produce and distribute a wide range of consumer, construction, and industrial items. Saint-Gobain Abrasives and Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics manufacture abrasives, ceramics, and refractories at the Worcester facility. CertainTeed and Bird manufacture roofing shingles at the Norwood facility. The companies cooperated with EPA in resolving the violations and have agreed to take steps so they will be in compliance with federal regulations.
This case stems from a June 2013 inspection at the Worcester facility and a November 2012 inspection of the Norwood facility.
EPA Releases Final Report on Impacts from Hydraulic Fracturing Activities on Drinking Water
EPA’s
report concludes that hydraulic fracturing activities can impact
drinking water resources under some circumstances and identifies factors
that influence these impacts
WASHINGTON - The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing its scientific report
on the impacts from hydraulic fracturing activities on drinking water
resources, which provides states and others the scientific foundation to
better protect drinking water resources in areas where hydraulic
fracturing is occurring or being considered. The report, done at the
request of Congress, provides scientific evidence that hydraulic
fracturing activities can impact drinking water resources in the United
States under some circumstances.
As part of the report, EPA identified
conditions under which impacts from hydraulic fracturing activities can
be more frequent or severe. The report also identifies uncertainties and
data gaps. These uncertainties and data gaps limited EPA’s ability to
fully assess impacts to drinking water resources both locally and
nationally. These final conclusions are based upon review of over 1,200
cited scientific sources; feedback from an independent peer review
conducted by EPA’s Science Advisory Board; input from engaged
stakeholders; and new research conducted as part of the study.
"The value of high quality science has never been more important in
helping to guide decisions around our nation’s fragile water resources.
EPA's assessment provides the scientific foundation for local decision
makers, industry, and communities that are looking to protect public
health and drinking water resources and make more informed decisions
about hydraulic fracturing activities,” said Dr. Thomas A. Burke, EPA's
Science Advisor and Deputy Assistant Administrator of EPA's Office of
Research and Development. "This assessment is the most complete
compilation to date of national scientific data on the relationship of
drinking water resources and hydraulic fracturing."
The report is organized around activities in the hydraulic fracturing
water cycle and their potential to impact drinking water resources. The
stages include: (1) acquiring water to be used for hydraulic fracturing
(Water Acquisition), (2) mixing the water with chemical additives to
make hydraulic fracturing fluids (Chemical Mixing), (3) injecting
hydraulic fracturing fluids into the production well to create and grow
fractures in the targeted production zone (Well Injection), (4)
collecting the wastewater that returns through the well after injection
(Produced Water Handling), and (5) managing the wastewater through
disposal or reuse methods (Wastewater Disposal and Reuse).
EPA identified cases of impacts on drinking water at each stage in the
hydraulic fracturing water cycle. Impacts cited in the report generally
occurred near hydraulically fractured oil and gas production wells and
ranged in severity, from temporary changes in water quality, to
contamination that made private drinking water wells unusable.
As part of the report, EPA identified certain conditions under which
impacts from hydraulic fracturing activities can be more frequent or
severe, including:
Water withdrawals for hydraulic fracturing in times or areas of
low water availability, particularly in areas with limited or declining
groundwater resources;
Spills during the management of hydraulic fracturing fluids and
chemicals or produced water that result in large volumes or high
concentrations of chemicals reaching groundwater resources;
Injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids into wells with inadequate
mechanical integrity, allowing gases or liquids to move to groundwater
resources;
Injection of hydraulic fracturing fluids directly into groundwater resources;
Discharge of inadequately treated hydraulic fracturing wastewater to surface water resources; and
Disposal or storage of hydraulic fracturing wastewater in unlined pits, resulting in contamination of groundwater resources.
The report provides valuable information about potential
vulnerabilities to drinking water resources, but was not designed to be a
list of documented impacts.
Data gaps and uncertainties limited EPA’s ability to fully assess the
potential impacts on drinking water resources both locally and
nationally. Generally, comprehensive information on the location of
activities in the hydraulic fracturing water cycle is lacking, either
because it is not collected, not publicly available, or prohibitively
difficult to aggregate. In places where we know activities in the
hydraulic fracturing water cycle have occurred, data that could be used
to characterize hydraulic fracturing-related chemicals in the
environment before, during, and after hydraulic fracturing were scarce.
Because of these data gaps and uncertainties, as well as others
described in the assessment, it was not possible to fully characterize
the severity of impacts, nor was it possible to calculate or estimate
the national frequency of impacts on drinking water resources from
activities in the hydraulic fracturing water cycle.
EPA's final assessment benefited from extensive stakeholder engagement
with states, tribes, industry, non-governmental organizations, the
scientific community, and the public. This broad engagement helped to
ensure that the final assessment report reflects current practices in
hydraulic fracturing and uses all data and information available to the
agency. This report advances the science. The understanding of the
potential impacts from hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources
will continue to improve over time as new information becomes
available.
