CWA-09-2022-0052: MK Magnetics Inc, Adelanto, CA; Expedited Settlement Agreement
Expedited Settlement Agreement in the matter of MK Magnetics Inc, Adelanto, California. EPA Docket No. CWA-09-2022-0052.
Complainant: Roberto Rodriguez, Acting Assistant Director, Water Branch, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, U.S. EPA, Region 9, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, California 94105.
Respondent: MK Magnetics Inc., 17030 Muskrat Avenue, Adelanto, California 92301.
Description of Business or Activity Conducted by the Respondent: Respondent manufactures standard and custom wound-tape, soft magnetic cores used as components in transformers for various industries, such as aerospace, oil and mineral exploration, renewable energy, and medical imaging.
Summary of Alleged Violations: Respondent is a categorical industrial user (CIU) under the CWA pretreatment regulations, specifically 40 CFR § 433.17 Subpart A – Metal Finishing. As required by 40 CFR § 403.12(e)(1), a CIU must submit semi-annual compliance reports to the Control Authority. Because the Adelanto Wastewater Treatment Facility (operated and maintained by PERC Water Corp.) publicly owned treatment works does not have an approved pretreatment program, the Control Authority is the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board. For the past five years, Respondent did not submit any semi-annual compliance reports to the Control Authority, which constitutes ten violations of the CWA.
Proposed Penalty: $2,000