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Guam Fire Department receives new equipment as result of EPA settlement with Shell Guam

Release Date: 12/22/2009
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, higuchi.dean@epa.gov

Over $28,000 in equipment will help the Guam Fire Department respond to emergencies

(12/22/09) HONOLULU – The Guam Fire Department recently received $28,300 in personal protective equipment as the result of a settlement reached by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with Shell Guam for allegedly failing to submit required toxic chemical reports, a violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

The basic personal protective equipment or “Turn Out Gear” is used by fire fighters to respond to all emergency situations.

Shell Guam agreed to enter into a settlement that includes a supplemental environmental project or SEP, that resulted in positive benefits for the island of Guam.

The company uses toxic chemicals, such as polycyclic aromatic compounds and naphthalene that are components of the fuel that is repackaged at the facility. Shell Guam failed to submit timely, complete, and correct Toxics Release Inventory reports to the EPA detailing the amounts of chemicals processed at its facility in 2007.

Federal emergency planning laws require facilities processing more than 25,000 pounds of the chemicals at issue in this case to report releases of the chemicals on an annual basis to the EPA and the state.

Each year the EPA compiles information submitted from the previous year regarding toxic chemical releases and produces a national Toxics Release Inventory database for public availability. This database estimates the amounts of each toxic chemical released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management, and also provides a trend analysis of toxic chemical releases.

For more information on the TRI program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/tri. The U.S. EPA’s environmental databases, including the TRI program data, can be accessed at: https://www.epa.gov/enviro.

EPA routinely offers SEPs as part of the settlement process. For more information on SEPs, please visit https://cfpub.epa.gov/compliance/resources/policies/civil/seps/

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