On October 26, 2018, Respondent became the owner and operator of the facility upon the completion of a merger. According to Respondent’s RMP, Respondent handles approximately 22,477 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at the Facility. EPA conducted an inspection of the Facility on April 18, 2018, to evaluate the Facility’s compliance with CAA Section 112(r). On May 24, 2018, EPA sent a post-inspection letter to Respondent’s predecessor, summarizing the deficiencies identified by EPA during the Inspection and subsequent investigation.
SPECIAL NOTE: this case involved a merger and during the merger, it seems that the PHA recommendations from a 2016 PHA lost momentum and during the 2018 EPA inspection EPA found four (4) items still open:
(1) preventative maintenance and inspection items added to daily and annual inspections
(2) replacement of an auto-purger
(3) installation of a relief vent ammonia detector and loading dock detectors, and
(4) installation of a glycol temperature and pressure transmitter on the control panel.
And these four items being open cost the facility $17,000!
Count I
Failure to Establish a System to Promptly Address Findings and Recommendations gathered in the Process Hazard Analysis
40 C.F.R. § 68.67(e) requires, in relevant part, owners or operators to establish a system to promptly address the findings and recommendations made in the process hazard
analysis (the “PHA”); assure that the recommendations are resolved in a timely manner and that the resolution is documented; document what actions are to be taken; complete
actions as soon as possible, and develop a written schedule of when these actions are to be completed.
Facility documents provided to EPA by Respondent subsequent to the Inspection show that several significant findings and recommendations gathered during the Facility’s 2016 PHA had not been implemented as of the date of EPA’s Inspection on April 18, 2018. The PHA findings that were not promptly corrected included
(1) preventative maintenance and inspection items added to daily and annual inspections
(2) replacement of an auto-purger
(3) installation of a relief vent ammonia detector and loading dock detectors, and
(4) installation of a glycol temperature and pressure transmitter on the control panel.
Items (1) and (3) were completed prior to the Merger. Respondent has represented to EPA that Item (2) was completed during the summer of 2019; however, Respondent did not complete work on Item (4) until on or about November 28, 2019, approximately 13 months following the Merger.
By not completing work on the final outstanding 2016 PHA recommendation until approximately 13 months following the Merger, Complainant alleges that Respondent did
not promptly address the PHA recommended actions in a timely manner and therefore failed to comply with the requirements of 40 C.F.R. § 68.67(e).
By failing to comply with 40 C.F.R. § 68.67(e), Respondent is subject to the assessment of penalties under Section 113 of the CAA.
CIVIL PENALTY
In settlement of EPA’s claims for civil penalties for the violations alleged in this Consent Agreement, Respondent consents to the assessment of a civil penalty in the amount of SEVENTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS ($17,000).
The civil penalty is based upon EPA’s consideration of a number of factors, including the penalty criteria (“statutory factors”), including, the following: the size of the business, the economic impact of the penalty on the business, the violator’s full compliance history and good faith efforts to comply, the duration of the violation as established by any credible evidence (including evidence other than the applicable test method), payment by the violator of penalties previously assessed for the same violation, the economic benefit of noncompliance, and the seriousness of the violation.
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