California Company to pay $68K Penalty for Violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act at its Arizona Storage Facility
SAN FRANCISCO – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with Lighting Resources, LLC, a generator and commercial storer of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), for violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) at its E. Victory Street facility in Phoenix, Arizona. The company will pay $68,290 in civil penalties.
Based on a February 2020 inspection at the facility, EPA found that Lighting Resources had failed to comply with marking, dating, notification, and manifesting requirements for PCB waste. EPA also found that the company used areas in the facility that were contaminated with PCBs that it had not decontaminated prior to use. Finally, EPA found that Lighting Resources accepted unauthorized PCB liquid waste and stored excess PCB waste.
"Even though PCBs are no longer manufactured in this country, EPA is focused on ensuring the proper handling, storage and disposal of PCBs that are still in use," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. "This focus is critical to reducing the likelihood of further contamination of our environment from a toxic and persistent chemical."
About PCBs
PCBs are man-made organic chemicals that were used extensively in paint, plastics, and electrical equipment before EPA banned its production in 1978. More than 1.5 billion pounds of PCBs were manufactured in the United States before the ban. Acute PCB exposure can adversely affect the nervous, immune, and endocrine systems as well as liver function. Concerns about human health and the extensive presence and lengthy persistence of PCBs in the environment led Congress to enact TSCA in 1976.
For more information on PCBs, including safe handling and disposal requirements visit EPA’s Polychlorinated Biphenyls website.
For more information on TSCA, visit EPA’s Summary of the Toxic Substances Control Act website.
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