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Friction Holdings to pay $337,500 for multiple environmental violations

Release Date: 04/23/2009
Contact Information: Karen Thompson, 312-353-8547, thompson.karen@epa.gov

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
No. 09-OPA072


(Chicago, Ill. - April 23, 2009) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 and U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement with Friction Holdings, formerly Raybestos, to investigate and clean up certain areas at its facility in Crawfordsville, Ind. A $337,500 penalty has been set.

The consent decree addresses violations of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Ac, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. The agreement will be presented to the district court and a public comment period will follow.

Friction Holdings will be required to:
-Clean Water Act: Develop plans to correct wastewater discharges of copper, cyanide and zinc.
-RCRA: Conduct a ground water investigation and clean up used oil/outside gear cutting and other areas.
-TSCA: Sample, seal and grout pipes and tunnels, and clean up PCB contamination.

The facility, at 1204 Darlington Ave., was built in 1951 by Raybestos and manufactured brake linings for vehicles. Friction Holdings bought the company in 2008 and has scaled back operations at the Crawfordsville plant. Offsite contamination downstream in Shelly Ditch has already been cleaned up under a Superfund removal action a few years ago.