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EPA Proposes Penalty Against Portland Hotel for Clean Air Act Violations

Release Date: 09/16/2003
Contact Information: Peyton Fleming, EPA Press Office, 617-918-1008

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has proposed a penalty of $39,600 against hotel operator Erin, Inc., for violating the Clean Air Act at its Doubletree Hotel in Portland, Maine.

According to the complaint filed this summer, the hotel vented environmentally-damaging refrigerants from two air conditioners in violation of federal environmental law. These violations resulted in emissions into the air of a refrigerant, HCFC, which contributes to the depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer.

EPA's complaint stems from a tip to EPA's New England office on May 27, which led to an inspection by EPA the same day.

"All of us must do our part to protect the Earth's ozone layer," said Robert W. Varney, administrator for EPA's New England office. "The Clean Air Act is an important environmental law that must be followed to protect the air we all breath."