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Special report: Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs), fiscal year 2003
| 2003 Quick Finder | |||
| Introduction to Enforcement Accomplishments , FY 2003 | Air | Pesticides | |
| Land | Supplemental Actions | ||
| Emergency Response & Community Right-To-Know | Water | Criminal investigation | |
Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEPs) benefit environment, public health
As part of an enforcement settlement, a violator may voluntarily agree to do a "Supplemental Environmental Project." A SEP goes beyond the actions a violator must take to comply with the law.
Cleanup enhances wildlife habitat on Johnston Atoll
- The U.S. Army is working with the Air Force, U.S. Department of Interior and EPA to restore Johnston Atoll as a wildlife refuge after years of serving as the Army's first major chemical weapons disposal base. The Army, as part of a settlement with EPA, paid $91,125 in penalties for the release of a small amount of VX nerve agent, and agreed to spend $182,500 to revegetate portions of the atoll, approximately 800 miles southwest of Hawaii. The revegetation project will help restore fragile bird habitat and mitigate the negative impacts of decades of military activity on this remote Pacific island. The Army destroyed over four million pounds of chemical agents and chemical weapons collected from Okinawa and other U.S. military bases in the Pacific Basin and West Germany between 1971 and 1991. The Army has cleaned up and dismantled the chemical agent incineration facility, known as JACADS (Johnston Atoll Chemical Agent Disposal System).
Chevron's national settlement includes environmental projects for communities
- Chevron USA, as part of a larger national settlement, agreed to pay an $800,000 penalty for failure to immediately report releases of hazardous substances and to properly implement a risk management program required by the Clean Air Act at its refinery in El Segundo, CA. Chevron also committed to projects that will directly benefit the environment and the city's residents. Chevron will spend $300,000 on diesel emissions reduction projects in the El Segundo area and $100,000 on emergency response equipment to be donated to the El Segundo Fire Department.
Chromalloy settles air emissions case; agrees to environmental project
- Chromalloy Gas and Turbine Corp, which has facilities in Phoenix, AZ, Carson City, NV and Gardena, CA paid a $92,522 penalty and will initiate a phaseout of the company's use of halogenated solvents at its Phoenix facility. The environmental project will cost Chromalloy $189,078 and is expected to decrease toxic emissions of trichloroethylene, a hazardous air pollutant, by approximately 6,500 pounds per year. The project will effectively mean the end of the company's use of halogenated solvents to degrease parts at its Phoenix facility.
Auto recycler settles storm water violations; commits to mercury pollution reduction
- Pick Your Part Auto Wrecking Co. paid $128,000 for violating storm water violations at five auto wrecking and recycling yards in Chula Vista, Santa Paula, Sun Valley and Wilmington, all in Southern California. The company will also start to remove and recycle mercury in switches from salvaged vehicles at its nine California yards, the first such program in the state. Within the United States, an estimated 10 tons of mercury are released to the environment each year from mercury-containing light switches during the shredding and crushing of old vehicles.
EPA settles cases in lead-based paint cases; projects to protect children
- EPA, the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Justice (DOJ) settled two cases against Los Angeles-based property management companies for failing to warn their tenants that their homes may contain lead-based paint hazards. Westside Rehab Corp., Alpha Property Management, Inc. and 42 other corporations, partnerships and individuals (collectively referred to as "Westside and Alpha) and SK Management Co., LLC agreed to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and to contribute to two children's health projects in Los Angeles to test children for lead poisoning and do community outreach on the problem. The agreements also require the companies to test for and clean up lead-based paint in more than 4,500 apartments nationwide.
For more information, see: EPA's Pacific Southwest Region's enforcement actions on lead paint hazards.
Other SEPs initiated or completed in 2003 in the Pacific Southwest:
EPA and city of Phoenix celebrate successful drinking water project
- In July, EPA and the city of Phoenix celebrated the successful completion of a $1.2 million three-year drinking water project that went beyond an enforcement action and paying a penalty -- it improved the taste and odor of the drinking water for Phoenix residents. The environmental project was part of a 2000 settlement in which the city of Phoenix agreed to pay a $350,000 penalty for failing to consistently comply with state and federal regulations on drinking water monitoring and reporting.
Phoenix recycling company to pay EPA, Arizona nearly $200,000 in fines; commits to environmental projects.
- In an administrative settlement finalized on September 26, 2003, a Phoenix recycling company, Onyx Special Services Inc., formerly Superior Special Services, agreed to pay $11,481 in penalties for PCB storage and worker protection violations and improper disposal, and $43,055 to purchase four Thermal Imagers for the Phoenix Fire Department. In an earlier action this year, Onyx had already agreed to pay $143,000 in fines and $125,000 for an environmental project to settle other state and federal hazardous waste violations with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and EPA. Onyx provides companies with hazardous waste recycling services for fluorescent lights and ballasts, lamps, transformers, batteries, mercury waste, and PCBs. For the environmental project in the 2002 settlement, Onyx will spend $125,000 to collect and dispose of unwanted hazardous chemicals from Phoenix school chemistry labs.
EPA fines circuit board manufacturer $20,000 for failing to notify authorities of chemical release; company to buy emergency response equipment for Phoenix Fire Department
- EPA fined Hadco Corp., a circuit board manufacturer, $20,000 and, as part of the settlement, it agreed to buy $46,000 worth of equipment for the Phoenix Fire Department for failing to notify the proper authorities after chemical releases from its South Phoenix, AZ facility. Hadco failed to immediately notify authorities after 165 pounds of chlorine were released to the air in May 2000. The release lasted about 35 minutes and sent several Hadco employees to the local hospital. Chlorine is corrosive to the eyes, skin and the respiratory tract.
EPA fines private jet company for failing to report hazardous chemical storage, company will purchase equipment for fire department
- EPA fined a private company in Scottsdale, AZ Southwest Jet Aviation, $9,936 for storing 10,000 pounds of the hazardous chemical kerosene without notifying the appropriate local, state and federal authorities. The company will pay $2,720 penalty and has agreed to spend an additional $7,266 on emergency response equipment for the Scottsdale Fire Department.
EPA, State Health Department approve $1.2 million for environmental projects in settlement with University of Hawaii
- EPA and the Hawaii Department of Health approved the University of Hawaii's proposal for spending nearly $1.2 million on environmental projects as part of a February 2001 settlement for hazardous waste violations at the university. The settlement required the university to perform the projects within three years as part of a total $1.7 million settlement. The university, also paid a $505,000 cash penalty, of which $120,000 was paid to the U.S. government and $385,000 went to the state. The university has completed a $288,000 project to identify pollution prevention and waste minimization measures and conducted a compliance audit of its facilities.