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Release Date: 08/03/2000
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BROOKLYN CHEMICAL COMPANY TO PAY $95,000 IN SETTLEMENT WITH EPA CK WITCO CAUSED VOLATILE HAZARDOUS CHEMICALS TO BE EMITTED INTO AIR New York, New York – CK Witco Corporation, now known as Crompton Corporation, which had operated a chemical manufacturing facility at 700 Court Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, has settled with EPA on charges it mismanaged three several-thousand gallon capacity tanks holding volatile organic hazardous wastes. The company will now pay a $95,000 penalty. EPA inspections and information from the company revealed that for three tanks holding hazardous wastes containing a high concentration of volatile organic compounds at the Brooklyn facility, CK Witco did not follow the tank management requirements of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), which were developed to prevent releases of hazardous waste into the environment. As their name implies, volatile organic compounds are toxic compounds that very easily evaporate into the air. These chemicals are also major contributors to smog. For this reason, EPA has strict regulations in place regarding storage of these chemicals. EPA charged, among other violations, that: CK Witco left one of the three tanks open at the time of the inspection, allowing the chemicals inside to evaporate into the air; that the lid designed to keep the tank properly closed was loose and had holes in it; that the company had not measured the organic vapor pressure in the tanks; that pumps attached to the tanks were not checked for leaks; and that the company did not keep records of any inspections and monitoring as RCRA requires. In 1999, CK Witco reported that it employed 10,000 people nationwide. The Red Hook facility closed in 1999 and has been demolished. For more information, please contact Nina Habib Spencer at (212) 637-3670.  COMPANY SENTENCED FOR CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATIONS Newark, New Jersey -- NY Apple Tours, a large sightseeing bus company operating in New York City, was sentenced last Friday to five years probation and fined $800,000 for making false statements to avoid meeting emissions standards for approximately 70 double-decker sight-seeing buses imported from England. Federal EPA regulations require bus engines imported after 1971 to comply with certification requirements of the Clean Air Act and meet emission standards for the year in which they are imported. Engines more than 20 years old when imported are exempt from these regulations. Federal DOT regulations require buses imported into the U.S. that are 25 years old or newer to conform to federal motor vehicle safety standards, while exempting vehicles older than 25 years. In a plea agreement entered into on September 15, 1999, Apple Tours has admitted that it created and altered documents making it appear that all of the buses were manufactured in 1967, when, in fact, the buses were newer and subject to applicable environmental and safety regulations and Customs service review. Before sentencing the company, Federal Judge John W. Bissell ruled in favor of the U.S. Government in a dispute over the terms of the plea agreement. Apple tours had argued that it could simply replace the violating engines with engines that are more than 20 years old. Judge Bissell ruled, however, that the plea agreement required Apple Tours to fix its engines to meet emissions standards for the years in which they were imported. For more information, contact Mary Mears at 212-637-3669 or mears.mary@epa.gov