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LARGE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURER FAILS TO PROVIDE HAZARDOUS WASTE INFORMATION

Release Date: 7/9/2002
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, 415/947-4248, chavez.wendy@epa.gov

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today fined Vopak USA $8,800 for failing to provide information about hazardous waste handling to the EPA, the state of Arizona, and the public.

     Vopak USA failed to submit annual and biennial hazardous waste reports for 1998, 1999 and 2000 for its south Phoenix, Ariz. facility.   The reports provide data on the types and amounts of hazardous waste generated and transported off-site for treatment, storage or disposal.

     "The requirements that were violated are essential to hazardous waste regulatory programs, and they are an important way to make information available to the public," said Jeff Scott, director of the EPA's Waste Management Division for the Pacific Southwest office.  "We will enforce these requirements vigorously to ensure that the information is available for decision- making to us and to communities."

     Today's action is the result of a joint project of the EPA Waste Management Division and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to evaluate compliance with hazardous waste regulations at facilities in the southern Phoenix area.  Vopak was inspected in March 2001.