A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 SEPTEMBER 1993


The U.S. Federal EPA’s
“New Enforcement Actions”
Against Hazardous Waste Burners.

On September 28 an EPA Enforcement Initiative Fact Sheet was released which stated: Today “EPA Headquarters (OSWER and OE), together with the Regions and the state of Illinois, announced a cluster filing of enforcement actions against violators of hazardous waste combustion regulations. The actions seek over $22 million in civil penalties and, where violations are ongoing, to compel the facilities to return to compliance. A total of 30 federal administrative complaints, 1 state complaint, and 7 federal administrative consent agreements were filed. Most of the actions target boilers and industrial furnaces (BIFs) for failing to comply with EPA’s Burning of Hazardous Waste in Boilers and Industrial Furnaces (BIF) rule, codified at 40 CFR Part 266, Subpart H. There are also 3 actions, including a $3.1 million state action [against Chemical Waste Management’s hazardous waste incinerator in Sauget, Illinois. See also *.] alleging violations by incinerators of permit requirements under the nation’s hazardous waste management law, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)...There are 159 BIFs operating presently in the United States. Approximately 925 boilers were burning hazardous waste prior to the BIF rule. As a result of the BIF rule, approximately 175 of those boilers stopped burning hazardous waste. Roughly 600 of the remaining BIFS qualify for a ‘small quantity burner exemption’ in the BIF rule (these units, together, burn less than 1% of the total hazardous waste burned in BIFs). EPA has identified 190 facilities with one or more regulated hazardous waste incinerators. Of these 190 facilities, 27 are operating as commercial hazardous waste incinerators.” EPA defines BOILER as “an enclosed device which burns hazardous waste/fuel mixtures to produce steam or hot water for on-site use. In the process, the hazardous waste is destroyed.” EPA defines INDUSTRIAL FURNACE as “an enclosed device which is integral component of a manufacturing process and uses thermal treatment to recover materials and/or energy, while destroying the hazardous waste. There are twelve types of industrial furnaces. These include cement kilns, aggregate kilns, and halogen acid furnaces.”

* Note from Waste Not:: In 1992 the State of Illinois also fined Chemical Waste Management a $3 million fine for falsifying inventory records that led to an explosion in 1991 at its Chicago, Illinois, hazardous waste incinerator - see W.N.# 203.

U.S. EPA’S PROPOSED PENALTIES: Note from Waste Not:

HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS...................$ 3,197,250 The professionals do a bad

CEMENT & AGGREGATE KILNS...............................$13,592,338 job, but the amateurs (cement

BOILERS & INDUSTRIAL FURNACES......................$ 6,662,694 kilns) do even worse.

U.S. EPA’S New Enforcement Actions, dated September 27, 1993:

Type of Unit/ PROPOSED

FACILITY/LOCATION EPA REGION MAJOR VIOLATIONS PENALTY

HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS:

CHEMICAL WASTE Incinerator “Allowed release of fugitive emissions from $3,100,000

MANAGEMENT, INC. partially and completely burned hazardous waste.”

Sauget, ILLINOIS EPA 5(State Fine)

LAIDLAW ENV. Incinerator “Failure to set correct CO emission parameter and cease $ 61,500

SERVICES hazardous waste feed when monitoring equipment

Roebuck, SOUTH CAROLINA EPA 4 inoperable.”

CHEMICAL WASTE Incinerator “Waste analysis and determination violations, hazardous $ 18,750

MANAGEMENT, INC. waste manifest violations.”

Port Arthur, TEXAS EPA 6 STERLING Incinerator “Violated permit operating conditions by exceeding $ 17,000

PHARMACEUTICALS specified waste feed limits for spent solvent toluene.”

Barceloneta, PUERTO RICO EPA 2

CEMENT & AGGREGATE KILNS THAT BURN HAZARDOUS WASTE FOR FUEL:

LONE STAR Cement Kiln “Failed to provide complete info on types of fuels it burned, $ 3,822,056

INDUSTRIES, INC. performed inadequate testing of kiln dust to determine if haz.waste,

Greencastle, INDIANA EPA 5 and did not adequately monitor and control the feed of fuel into its kiln.”

RIVER CEMENT CO. Cement Kiln “Inadequate Certificate of Compliance, failure to $3,364,388

Festus, continuously monitor metal feed rates, no functional

MISSOURI EPA 7 auto feed cutoff, and illegal hazardous waste storage units.”

ASH GROVE CEMENT CO. Cement Kiln “Failure to maintain operating records, analyze waste derived $1,274,900

Louisville, fuel prior to burning, illegal storage of hazardous waste in

NEBRASKA EPA 7 rail cars, and no operating automatic waste feed cutoff.”

LAFARGE CORPORATION Cement Kiln “Inadequate Waste Analysis Plan, failure to monitor $1,200,474

Fredonia, KANSAS EPA 7 hazardous constituent metal feeds.”< /U>

LAFARGE CORP. Cement Kiln “Waste analysis and determination violations, failure to $ 619,800

Paulding, record feed rates of metals, chloride, and chlorine, and failure

OHIO EPA 5 to meet performance specifications.”

LAFARGE CORPORATION Cement Kiln “Inadequate waste analysis, incomplete operating record, $ 594,000

Demopolis failure to make hazardous waste/Bevill determinations...

ALABAMA EPA 4 failure to continuously monitor & record solid feed” to kiln.

Southwestern Portland Cement Kiln “Exceeded feed rates for total hazardous waste and stored $1,064,765

Cement (SOUTHDOWN) hazardous cement kiln dust without a permit.”

Fairborn, OHIO EPA 5

HOLNAM, INC. Cement Kiln “Failure to make hazardous waste determination of cement $ 838,850

Holly Hill, kiln dust, develop adequate Waste Analysis Plan, submittal of

SOUTH CAROLINA EPA 4 inaccurate/incomplete Certificate of Compliance, and failure

to comply with air emission standards.”

HOLNAM INC. Cement Kiln “Failure to perform detailed waste analyses, inadequate $ 309,055

Clarksville, secondary tank containment, failure to use proper waste

MISSOURI EPA 7 determination methods, and inadequate Waste Analysis Plan.”/U>

KENTUCKY SOLITE CORP. Aggregate Kiln “Failure to perform leak detection monitoring on hazardous $ 485,350

Brooks, waste equipment, failure to make a hazardous waste/Bevill

KENTUCKY EPA 4 determination...failure to monitor hydrocarbon emissions.”

KOSMOS CEMENT Cement Kiln “Inadequate Waste Analysis Plan for waste feed to cement $ 18,700

Louisville, KENTUCKY EPA 4 kiln, failure to monitor equipment attached to [kiln] for leaks.”

BOILERS & INDUSTRIAL FURNACES THAT BURN HAZARDOUS WASTE:

COMPANY LOCATION EPA REGION Proposed Penalty

S.C. JOHNSON & SONS Sturtevant, WISCONSIN EPA 5 Boiler $ 1,466,475

RHONE-POULENC Institute, WEST VIRGINIA EPA 3 Boiler $ 915,125

Rhone-Poulenc Basic Chemical Co. Hammond, INDIANA EPA 5 Sulfuric Acid Furnace $ 37,350

THE MAYLINE CO. Sheboygan, WISCONSIN EPA 5 Boiler $ 649,000

DOW CHEMICAL CO. Midland, MICHIGAN EPA 5 Boiler $ 599,974

DOW CHEMICAL U.S.A. Joliet, ILLINOIS EPA 5 Boiler $ 110,000

DOW CHEMICAL Plaquemine, LOUISIANA EPA 6 Boiler $ 48,500

BEAUMONT Methanol Corp. Beaumont, TEXAS EPA 6 Boiler $ 583,950

ETHYL CORPORATION Magnolia, ARKANSAS EPA 6 Industrial Furnace $ 544,245

ARIZONA CHEMICAL Panama City, FLORIDA EPA 4 Boiler $ 334,600

Malinckrodt Speciality Chemicals Raleigh, NORTH CAROLINA EPA 4 Boiler $ 329,500

Parke-Davis Division Warner Lambert Co. Holland, MICHIGAN EPA 5 Boiler $ 267,925

ETHYL CORPORATION Orangeburg, SOUTH CAROLINA EPA 4 Boiler $ 151,450

International Specialty Products Calvert City, KENTUCKY EPA 4 Boiler $ 129,350

DSM CHEMICALS, North America Augusta, GEORGIA EPA 4 Boiler $ 121,750

ICI ACRYLICS, INC. Olive Branch, MISSOURI EPA 4 Boiler $ 101,000

Tenn. Eastman Co. Kingsport, TENNESSEE EPA 4 Boiler $ 98,000

The NutraSweet Co. Augusta, GEORGIA EPA 4 Boiler $ 80,000

Diversified Scientific Services Kingston, TENNESSEE EPA 4 Boiler $ 64,000

Diversified Scientific Services Kingston, TENNESSEE EPA 4 Boiler $ 23,000

VANDERBILT CHEMICAL Murray, KENTUCKY EPA 4 Boiler $ 7,500


WASTE NOT # 248. A publication of Work on Waste USA, published 48 times a year. Annual rates are: Groups & Non-Profits $50; Students & Seniors $35; Individual $40; Consultants & For-Profits $125; Canadian $US50; Overseas $65. Editors: Ellen & Paul Connett, 82 Judson Street, Canton, NY 13617. Tel: 315-379-9200. Fax: 315-379-0448.