Environmental compliance is a constant for the regulated community; it requires consistent and careful attention, but you are never “done.” Further, environmental regulations require routine reporting and sometimes, even slight changes in manufacturing processes can change your compliance status. As we outline below, non-compliance, and subsequent environmental enforcement, can be costly.
Recycler with Environmental Justice Concerns Fined
On December 5, 2023, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that they had reached a settlement with a scrap metal recycler in Flint, Michigan. The company, R.J. Torching was fined for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act.
As reported in Recycling Today, “The company uses torches to cut large metal objects, such as automotive manufacturing machines. According to the EPA, the company violated visible emissions limitations, illegally conducted open burning and failed to properly operate air pollution control devices.”
As part of the settlement, R.J. Torching will install an air pollution capture and control system, which is expected to significantly reduce “visible emissions of inhalable metallic particulate matter from the facility and will better protect human health and the environment.” The company will also pay $150,000 in civil penalties.
As noted by the EPA, “The facility is located in an area with environmental justice concerns, according to data from EPA’s EJSCREEN tool.” Source: USEPA.
Steel Company Emissions Tied to Environmental Justice
Staying both in Michigan and focused on Environmental Justice (EJ), a Dearborn, Michigan company will pay more than $100 million to settle with the EPA.
The EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice announced a modification to a 2015 consent decree between the United States and state of Michigan and the Cleveland-Cliffs Steel Corporation (formerly AK Steel) to resolve Clean Air Act violations at the company’s Dearborn, Michigan, steel manufacturing plant.
According to a press release by the EPA, “The decree required the Dearborn plant to implement certain measures to address visible air emissions from the plant. Because these measures failed to bring the plant into full Clean Air Act compliance, the modification requires Cleveland-Cliffs to undertake additional extensive measures at a cost of over $100 million, which are expected to reduce visible emissions from the plant, as well as curtail emissions of manganese and lead.”
Cleveland-Cliffs will also pay a civil penalty of $81,380 to the State of Michigan for violating opacity, lead, and manganese limits, and the company will implement a supplemental environmental project. The supplemental project will provide nearby residents with home air purifiers, at an estimated cost of $244,000. As noted by the EPA, “The facility is located in an area with environmental justice concerns according to data from EPA’s EJSCREEN tool.”
According to Industry Week, Cleveland-Cliffs acquired AK Steel on March 13, 2020.
A food ingredient maker was fined for violating the Clean Air Act (Photo by Serghei Savchiuc on Unsplash).
Indiana Plant-Based Company Fined
Finally, an Indiana company was also tagged for Clean Air Act violations.
Ingredion, Inc. is a plant-based ingredient maker in Indiana. According to November 22, 2023, press release, Ingredion settled with the EPA, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
At issue were claims that the company violated the Clean Air Act at its corn wet milling facility in Indianapolis. As stated in the press release, “Ingredion will pay a civil penalty of $1,139,600 and implement measures at a cost of nearly $7 million to reduce and offset unpermitted emissions of particulate matter (PM) and to comply with lower future PM limits.” It was also stated that “Ingredion did not operate and monitor certain equipment as required to minimize air emissions.”
Ingredion will also contribute $560,400 to the State of Indiana to support Brownfields redevelopment in and around Marion County, Indiana.
As with the other cases outlined above, there is a statement with respect to EJ, “This settlement will result in cleaner air for the residents of Indianapolis, particularly those who live in the overburdened community near the Ingredion facility.”
Accord to the Complaint, the issues at Ingredion date back to 2015.
Environmental Compliance Support
Maintaining environmental compliance is a challenge. Increasingly, local, state, and federal environmental regulations affect a growing list of companies – not just “smoke-stack” companies. Further, as outlined above the focus on Environmental Justice or EJ puts companies located in urban areas under increased scrutiny.
In our newsletters, blogs, and compliance tips we provide updates to help you stay up-to-date an environmental regulatory developments. You might also want to look at our document, “Seven Steps to Prepare for a Compliance Inspection.”
If you need assistance with an environmental issue, contact us at info@dragun.com or call our office at 248-932-0228. You can reach our senior environmental scientist, Jeffrey Bolin, M.S., CHMM at Ext. 125.
Dragun Corporation does not use artificial intelligence in drafting our blogs or any other material.
Alan Hahn drafted this blog. Alan has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Studies and completed a graduate program in Environmental Management. He has worked in environmental management for 45 years. He has written hundreds of blogs and articles. His published work includes Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Detroiter, Michigan Forward, GreenStone Partners, Manure Manager Magazine, Progressive Dairy, and HazMat Magazine.
Jeffrey Bolin, M.S., reviewed the blog. Jeff is a partner and senior scientist at Dragun Corporation. He is a published author, frequent speaker, and expert witness. His expertise in environmental due diligence, PFAS, vapor intrusion, and site assessments has led to projects in the US, Canada, and overseas. See Jeff’s Bio.
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