Emergency response & Community Right-To-Know enforcement accomplishments, fiscal year 2003

2003 Quick Finder
Introduction to Enforcement Accomplishments , FY 2003	Air	Pesticides
Introduction to Enforcement Accomplishments , FY 2003	Land	Supplemental Actions
Emergency Response & Community Right-To-Know	Water	Criminal investigation

EPA fined an agricultural seed supplier $16,575 for failing to report the release of a hazardous chemical at its Chandler, AZ facility. The Delta and Pine Lane Company's facility, located within the Gila River Indian Community, released 45,000 pounds (100 per cent) of the facility's sulfuric acid into the soil from a leak in the facility's holding tank. The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) requires that companies report any releases of sulfuric acid over 1,000 pounds. The facility used sulfuric acid to process cotton seed.

EPA ordered the owners and operators of the Lawson waste facility to stop burning solid waste at its dump site in Thermal, CA which is on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Reservation. The Riverside County site was violating both federal and tribal laws banning open burning. EPA also ordered the facility to install fencing, post warning signs and mitigate potential threats to human health. When the facility did not comply, the United States filed suit in the Central District of California to enforce the order and to enforce a cease and desist order issued by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for operating on the dump property without a valid lease. A trial date is set for May 2004. In a companion case, the United States also filed suit to enforce another Bureau of Indian Affairs order against the owner of a trailer park adjacent to the dump.

EPA reached a $55,000 settlement with the Apartment Investment and Management Company -- known as AIMCO - and certain related companies for failing to inform tenants about lead paint hazards at the Casa de Monterey apartment complex in Norwalk, CA. The settlement was based on violations of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act. The federal requirements are intended to help prevent exposure -- especially the exposure of children -- to hazards from lead-based paint by requiring disclosure and notification when selling or leasing applicable housing.