Exide to pay $225,000 civil penalty for violations found by EPA
From dallasnews.com
By Valerie Wigglesworth
Exide Technologies has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $225,000 for violations found by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during inspections at its Frisco plant in 2009 and 2010.
The details are spelled out in a consent agreement and final order filed by the EPA on Dec. 18. Exide ceased operations at the secondary lead smelter in Frisco on Nov. 30 and is in the process of dismantling its operations.
EPA officials found multiple violations related to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, which regulates hazardous waste, and the Clean Air Act.
Among them were the unpermitted storage of hazardous waste in a tank that had been leaking, missing and open doors in a building that was supposed to contain wastes and hazardous waste found between a flood wall and Stewart Creek, which runs through plant property. The plant also failed to control fugitive dust emissions, which are the particles that escape through open doors or fall off vehicles and don’t go through pollution control devices.
This is the latest in a series of penalties issued against Exide. The company paid a separate $135,000 civil penalty last year as part of a consent agreement and final order with the EPA over Clean Water Act violations found during the same inspections noted above. Exide also paid $14,000 in penalties assessed by the U.S. Department of Labor over violations found during a 2011 inspection by the department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Pending is a $592,868 penalty for violations identified by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality during inspections last year.
Click here to read the consent agreement.
