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EPA requires Pool Chlor, Inc. to correct violations to protect emergency responders, public / Company fails to prepare written emergency procedures

Release Date: 10/15/2008
Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, (415) 947-4149, perezsullivan.margot@epa.gov

SAN FRANCISCO –The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has settled with Pool Chlor, Inc. for failing to prepare written emergency operation procedures and failing to submit complete annual chemical inventories in 2005 and 2006, violations of the Clean Air Act and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know-Act, respectively.

Pool Chlor, Inc. of Tucson, Ariz., will pay a $2,225 penalty in addition to correcting the violations. The company, located at 3116 East Pennsylvania Avenue provides chlorination services for recreational swimming pools in the Tucson area.

“Pool Chlor, Inc. violated laws that protect and inform communities near facilities that use hazardous substances and other chemicals,” said Daniel Meer, the EPA’s assistant Superfund director for the Pacific Southwest region. “We will take action against any company that fails to follow these laws that protect emergency responders and the public in the event of an accidental release.”

The company submitted chemical inventories for 2005 and 2006 but failed to include all the chemicals present onsite as required. The company was also cited for failing to prepare and submit emergency operation procedures for its on-site chlorine gas storage tank, a requirement under the Clean Air Act.

The CAA requires registered facilities to prepare written procedures to manage risk at the facility, including procedures for normal and emergency shut-down operations.

The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know-Act requires all facilities using hazardous substances above specified quantities to provide annual chemical inventory information to local emergency planners for inclusion in the community emergency plan.