EPA v. Steuben Foods, Inc.

Case summary

This is a consolidated action pursuant to our Consolidated Rules of Practice (40 C.F.R. �22.18(b)(2) and (3)), which provide that a proceeding may be simultaneously commenced and concluded by the issuance of a Consent Agreement and Final Order when the parties agree to settle one or more causes of action before the filing of an Administrative Complaint. A review of the Toxic Release Inventory Envirofacts Database (TRI Database) indicated that the Respondent voluntarily submitted the following Form R reports to the EPA: CHEMICAL YEAR DUE DATE POSTMARK DATE DAYS LATE NITRIC ACID 1999 07/01/00 01/09/03 >1yr NITRIC ACID 2000 07/01/01 01/09/03 >1yr NITRIC ACID 2001 07/01/02 01/09/03 191 NITRATE COMPOUNDS 1998 07/01/99 07/29/03 >1yr NITRATE COMPOUNDS 1999 07/01/00 07/29/03 >1yr NITRATE COMPOUNDS 2000 07/01/01 07/29/03 >1yr NITRATE COMPOUNDS 2001 07/01/02 07/29/03 >1yr On July 2, 2003, a letter addressing the above late reporting violations was sent to the company in an effort to gain more insight into the circumstances concerning the above violations. An informal settlement conference was held by phone between Mr. Richard DeFeo, Vice President, Steuben Foods and Ms. Mary A. Kowalski of the Pesticides and Toxic Substances Branch on August 15, 2003 followed by several additional phone conversations. On August 7, 2003, Steuben Foods provided by letter the requested information. It was determined that Steuben Foods Incorporated was required to submit the above Form R reports to the Administrator of EPA and to the State of New York in a timely manner. The failure to submit the each Form R report, in a timely manner, constitutes a violation of Section 313 of EPCRA, 42 U.S.C. �11023, and 40 C.F.R �372.30. The amount of the penalty was initially calculated using the Enforcement Response Policy (ERP) for Section 313 of EPCRA issued by the USEPA Office of Compliance Monitoring, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, on August 10, 1992. The original proposed penalty would have been $158,234 if an administrative complaint had been issued.

Defendants (1)

• Steuben Foods, Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• STEUBEN FOODS, INC.

  1150 MAPLE ROAD, ELMA, NY, 14059

  Registry ID: 110000564452

Statutes cited

• EPCRA 313 — Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (TRI)

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Steuben Foods, Inc.entered 2003-09-22

  Primary law: EPCRA

  Federal penalty: $39,558

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2003-09-22Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2003-09-22Final Order Issued
• 2003-09-29Enforcement Action Closed
• 2003-10-06Enforcement Action Data Entered