A publication of Work On Waste USA, Inc., 82 Judson, Canton, NY 13617 315-379-9200 SEPTEMBER 1993
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 EPAs 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 Managements hazardous waste incinerator in Sauget, Illinois. See also *.] alleging violations by incinerators of permit requirements under the nations 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 $3 million fine for falsifying inventory records that led to an explosion in 1991 at its Chicago, Illinois, hazardous waste incinerator - see W.N.# 203.
U.S. EPAS PROPOSED PENALTIES: Note from Waste Not:
HAZARDOUS WASTE INCINERATORS...................$ 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. EPAS 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