FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2003
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/ENRD
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ENRD
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
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FACT SHEET
2003 ENVIRONMENTAL ENFORCEMENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
On March 11, 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft and Assistant Attorney
General Thomas L. Sansonetti of the Department’s Environment and Natural
Resources Division affirmed their commitment to vigorous and fair enforcement
of the nation’s environmental laws to ensure that our citizens breathe cleaner
air, drink purer water, and fully enjoy our nation’s natural resources.
They announced that the Environment Division would focus particular attention
on three civil law enforcement priorities:
1. Leveling the Playing Field
2. Maintaining the Integrity of the Nation’s Infrastructure
3. Conserving the Superfund
Under Attorney General Ashcroft’s leadership, the Environment and Natural
Resources Division is today reporting that it has made important progress in
each of these three areas.
OVERVIEW
“Leveling the Playing Field”
Ensuring that Lawbreakers Do Not Benefit from Noncompliance
Those who fail to comply with environmental laws gain a competitive advantage
over their law abiding competitors. “Leveling the playing field” focuses on
bringing recalcitrant members of a regulated industry into compliance with
applicable laws and on recovering the economic benefit gained by recalcitrants
when they avoid compliance costs.
In the past three months, the Division has entered into six major Clean Air
Act settlements that will help level the corporate playing field in three
industries: Coal-Fired Power Plants, Ethanol and Corn Products, and Industrial
Bakeries.
The combined effect of these settlements will reduce air pollution by over
465,000 tons per year. This marks the most successful four months of law
enforcement ever under the Clean Air Act.
Four New Power Plant Settlements Will Reduce Pollution by 400,000 Tons
Each Year
- $1.2 billion settlement with the Virginia Electric Power Co. (VEPCO) will
eliminate 237,000 tons of air pollution each year from eight coal-fired power
plants in Virginia and West Virginia. Civil penalty of $5.3 million; $13.9
million in mitigation projects. (April, 2003)
- $600 million settlement with Wisconsin Electric Power Company (WEPCO) will
eliminate 105,000 tons of air pollution each year from five coal-fired
electricity generating plants in Wisconsin and Michigan. Civil penalty of $3.2
million; $20 million in mitigation projects. (April, 2003)
- $330 million settlement with Alcoa will eliminate 68,000 tons of pollution
each year through construction of a new coal-fired power plant with
state-of-the-art pollution controls at its aluminum production facility in
Rockdale, Texas. Civil penalty of $1.5 million; $2.5 million in mitigation
projects. (April, 2003)
- $30 million settlement with the Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co. (SIGECO)
will eliminate 10,500 tons of pollution each year at SIGECO’s Culley Station
power plant in Newburgh, Indiana. Civil penalty of $600,000; $2.5 million in
mitigation projects. (June, 2003)
Broadening Compliance in the Ethanol and Corn Refining Industry
- $330 million settlement with Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) will eliminate
63,000 tons of harmful pollution each year from 52 ethanol production, corn
product and oilseed plants in 16 states. Civil penalty of $4.6 million; $6.3
million in mitigation projects. (April, 2003)
Additional Settlement with an Alaskan Seafood Processor
- $350,000 settlement with Icicle Seafoods focusing on the illegal discharges of
seafood processing waste by Alaskan companies. Civil penalty of $85,000. (June
2003)
Reducing Ozone-Depleting CFCs
- $12 million settlement with Earthgrains Baking Companies will virtually
eliminate the emission of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting
substances from 264 industrial and commercial refrigeration units at 67 large
commercial bakeries in 22 states. Includes civil penalty of $5.25 million.
(July, 2003)
“Maintaining the Integrity of the Nation’s Infrastructure”
Enhancing Security and Minimizing Vulnerabilities
Pipelines, factories that use hazardous materials, chemical storage
facilities, and antiquated municipal drinking water and sewer systems are
vulnerable to failure or terrorist attacks. The risks of such a catastrophic
event can be reduced by compelling compliance with environmental laws to
ensure these facilities are properly maintained and monitored.
The Division’s commitment in this area reflects the President’s support for
initiatives that improve the safety of natural gas pipelines, protect the
environment, strengthen emergency preparedness and inspections, and bolster
enforcement.
Seven settlements over the past four months are particularly noteworthy in
this area:
Pipeline Industry Settlement Brings 5,500 Mile Pipeline into Compliance
- $64 million settlement with Colonial Pipeline, the world’s largest-volume
pipeline transporter of petroleum products, for spills totaling more than 1.45
million gallons of oil. Settlement includes $34 million civil penalty, the
largest ever obtained from a single company, and $30 million to be spend on
upgrades to Colonial’s inspection and maintenance practices along its entire
5,500 mile pipeline. (April, 2003)
Increased Vigilance at Chemical Factories
- $1 million settlement with DuPont due to release of hydrogen fluoride gas from
its Louisville, Kentucky fluoroproducts plant that resulted in the evacuation
of several nearby plants and health warnings issued to residential
neighborhoods. Settlement includes $550,000 civil penalty and $550,000 in
Supplemental Environmental Projects, including purchase of emergency response
equipment and creation of green buffer zone between plants and surrounding
community. (July, 2003)
Mandating Improvements in Municipal Sewer Systems
- $150 million partial settlement with Washington D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
(WASA) will reduce illegal discharges of untreated sewage into the Anacostia
and Potomac Rivers. Civil penalty of $250,000; $2 million in mitigation
projects. (June, 2003)
- $300 million settlement with Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority will end
illegal discharges of raw sewage from more than 600 pump stations throughout
the island. (March, 2003)
- $126 million agreed order with Government of Guam to upgrade sewage
plant and sewage collection system. (May, 2003)
“Conserving the Superfund”
Increasing the Availability of Funds to Clean Up Contaminated
Sites
The Environmental Protection Agency uses Superfund monies to assess
contamination at hazardous waste sites and perform cleanups where responsible
parties cannot be found or are unwilling to participate. The Division has
reinforced efforts to recover EPA’s response costs. These actions return money
to the Superfund and save scarce Superfund dollars by placing the financial
responsibility for cleanup on the shoulders of those who caused the problem.
Cost recovery and cleanup agreements help sustain the Superfund and keep it
available to fund cleanup activities at additional hazardous sites.
Several settlements promoting this priority are particularly noteworthy:
- $14 million settlement for additional work under two consent decrees at the
Commencement Bay Site in Tacoma, Washington, in addition to final court
approval of two consent decrees lodged providing for $65 million in work at
this site. (March, 2003)
- $57 million settlement with Lockheed Martin Corp. and Todd Pacific Corp. for
cleanup work at the Harbor Island Site in Seattle, Washington. (May, 2003)
- $30 million settlement with Tecumseh Products Co. for cleanup work and
reimbursement of EPA costs in the upper portion of the Sheboygan River Site in
Sheboygan, Wisconsin. (May, 2003)
- $24 million settlement with RSR Corporation for cleanup work and reimbursement
of EPA costs in removing lead contamination from residential areas of west
Dallas, Texas. (April, 2003)
- $10 million settlement for groundwater cleanup at the Puente Valley Operable
Unit of the San Gabriel Valley Superfund Sites in Los Angeles County,
California. (July, 2003)
- $12 million settlement with Weyerhauser for work at the Weyerhauser Plymouth
Wood Treating Site in North Carolina. (June, 2003)
- $9 million settlement with 17 companies for clean up work and reimbursement of
response costs at the Waste Disposal Inc. site in Santa Fe Springs,
California, a former industrial waste site used by the oil industry as a
landfill. (March, 2003)
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