On August 18, 2018, the EPA issued to Respondent a Notice of Potential Violation (“NOPV”), providing notice that the EPA found that Respondent had potentially committed the alleged violations described in Section V of this Agreement and providing Respondent an opportunity to confer with the EPA. On February 14, 2019, representatives of Respondent and the EPA discussed the August 18, 2018, NOPV. For purposes of this Agreement:
- At its stationary source, the Respondent operates a chemical manufacturing process;
- On December 20, 2017, the EPA conducted an onsite inspection of the RMProgram related records and equipment for the purpose of assessing the Respondent’s compliance with the RMProgram requirements and the implemented recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP) for its covered process at its stationary source;
- At its stationary source, the Respondent, at the time of inspection, had 37,680,000 pounds of chlorine on site for manufacturing Chlor-alkali products;
- At its stationary source, the Respondent, at the time of inspection, had one RMProgram level 3 covered process, which stores or otherwise uses chlorine in an amount exceeding its applicable threshold of 2,500 pounds;
At the time of the inspection:
- discrepancies between a piping and instrument diagram (P&ID) and the equipment in the field were found;
- the inspection team observed several RAGAGEP violations, including damaged vapor barriers, blistering paint on pressure vessels, a broken electrical conduit, and missing labels on piping and pressure vessels; and
- Respondent conducted a visual inspection of process piping on August 2, 2017, which noted numerous issues involving corrosion of piping, flanges, valves, and bolting in addition to several other issues. The same issues were noted by the EPA inspection team on December 20, 2017.
ALLEGED VIOLATIONS
Based on EPA’s compliance monitoring investigation, the EPA alleges that the Respondent violated 40 C.F.R. Part 68, the codified rules governing the Act’s Chemical Accident Prevention Provisions and Section 112(r) of the Act, 42 U.S.C. § 7412(r), when it:
- Failed to maintain accurate piping and instrument diagrams (P&ID) as part of the information pertaining to the equipment process as required by 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(1)(ii);
- Failed to document that equipment complies with RAGAGEP as required by 40 C.F.R. § 68.65(d)(2); and
- Failed to correct deficiencies in equipment that are outside acceptable limits (defined by process safety information) before further use or in a safe and timely manner when necessary means are taken to assure safe operations as required by 40 C.F.R. § 68.73(e).
Respondent consents to the payment of a civil penalty, which was calculated in accordance with the Act, in the amount of $87,014, which is to be paid within thirty (30) calendar days of the Effective Date of this CAFO.
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