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EPA ENFORCEMENT YIELDS POLLUTION PREVENTION OPTION FOR MASSACHUSETTS COMPANY

Release Date: 07/17/1997
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA Press Office, (617) 918-1064

BOSTON--The New England office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled two complaints filed against Massachusetts businesses for failing to report chemical use information as required under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know (EPCRA) law.

Gould Electronics Inc of Newburyport, Massachusetts, a fuse and fuse component manufacturing facility, will begin using a biodegradable aqueous cleaning solution instead of a more toxic cleaner, eliminating the use of trichloroethylene. The company has also agreed to install a cardboard compactor to begin recycling the cardboard it now throws away as trash, reducing the solid waste stream by 35% to 45%. Gould will also pay a $17,500 fine.

This agreement settles claims brought by the EPA for failing to submit data on time about its use of certain chemicals as required by federal law.

Instron Corporation of Canton, Massachusetts, a manufacturer of materials testing equipment, will pay a $34,118 fine for violations of EPCRA reporting requirements.

"When a company either fails to or is late to submit paperwork about chemicals is uses, it deprives citizens of information they may want to know about their community," said John P. DeVillars. EPA's New England administrator. "As with Gould, reporting chemical use can be an effective vehicle for determining pollution prevention opportunities that drives the total emissions and waste streams down."

Information filed by companies under EPCRA is maintained in the Toxic Release Inventory, TRI, a large data base of chemical emission information. This data allow the public, industry and state and local governments to make informed risk-based decisions about the management and control of these and other toxic chemicals.. The data are used by industries to analyze their wastes and identify areas where source reduction and other pollution prevention activities can be used so that wastes and emissions are minimized. Local governments often use the data in their contingency planning to respond to industrial accidents. TRI data also help the public as well as government agencies to gauge national progress in industry's commitment and ability to reduce toxic chemical wastes.