EPA v. Amerada Hess Corporation

Case summary

LATE REPORTER INITITATIVE - 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. We intend to settle the case in this matter. A review of the Toxic Release Inventory Envirofacts Database (TRI Database) indicated that the Respondent voluntarily submitted the following Form A reports to the EPA: Facility Name Chemical Name Reporting Year Report Due Report Submitted Days Late Roseton Terminal Newburgh, NY ethylbenzene 2001 July 1, 2002 Dec. 24, 2002 175 Edgewater Terminal Edgewater, NJ ethylbenzene 2001 July 1, 2002 Dec. 24, 2002 175 On June 26, 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. Based on the information provided by Amerada Hess Corporation (Hess) on August 12, 2003, it was determined that Hess had �processed � (as defined in 40 C.F.R. � 372.3) 50,301 lbs. of ethylbenzene at the Roseton Terminal and 110,130 lbs. at the Edgewater Terminal during 2001. These failures to submit Form A reports, in a timely manner, constitute violations 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 ERP for Section 313 of EPCRA issued by the USEPA Office of Compliance Monitoring, Office of Pesticides and Toxic Substances, on August 10, 1992. If we issued an Administrative Complaint the proposed penalty would be $6,420. EPA and Hess agreed that settling this matter by entering into this Consent Agreement and Final Order pursuant to 40 C.F.R. � 22.13(b) and 40 C.F.R. � 22.18(b)(2) and (3), is an appropriate means of resolving this case without further litigation. To that end, the parties conducted informal settlement discussions on August 12, 2003 between Mr.Peter Haid, Environmental Manager and Mr. Dan Kraft and Ms. Aarti Reddy of the Pesticides and Toxic Substances Branch. Hess assured us that the company would continue to comply in a timely fashion. A 50% reduction was allowed for the voluntary self-disclosure. Due to Respondent's willingness to settle this matter in an expeditious manner without the issuance of a formal administrative complaint, an additional 10% reduction was allowed under the as justice may require portion of the ERP, in consideration of the savings to the Agency in time and the costs of litigation. A 15% reduction was allowed under the �as justice may require� portion of the ERP in consideration of Region 2's late reporter initiative to expeditiously address the nearly 800 late Form R reports filed in reporting years 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by facilities in Region 2. Additionally, a 10% reduction under the �litigation risk� was also granted to the facility because of an erroneous de minimis factor (1% instead of 0.1%) for ethylbenzene provided by EPA in its TRI-ME software. The TRI-ME software is provided by EPA with the Toxic Chemical Release Reporting Forms package, this software that has been widely touted by EPA to help facilities simplify their reporting process. The facility uses this software to determine it�s thresholds and to see if they need to file Form R or A reports under Section 313. The error in the software was pointed out to us by Hess and we in turn discussed this with EPA HQ�s Michelle Price and Velu Senthil, (TRI Program Coordinator) they verified that there was indeed an error in the software and that they would correct this error. For this reason, the additional 10% reduction was granted to the facility. The total reduction of 85% would bring the new proposed penalty to $963.00.

Defendants (1)

• Amerada Hess CorporationNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (3)

• AMERADA HESS CORP ROSETON TERMINAL

  590 RIVER RD., NEWBURGH, NY, 12550

  Registry ID: 110000324710

• HESS - EDGEWATER TERMINAL

  615 RIVER ROAD, EDGEWATER, NJ, 07020

  Registry ID: 110056255715

• HESS - EDGEWATER TERMINAL

  615 RIVER ROAD, EDGEWATER, NJ, 07020

  Registry ID: 110056255715

Statutes cited

• EPCRA 313 — Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (TRI)

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Amerada Hess Corporationentered 2003-11-19

  Primary law: EPCRA

  Federal penalty: $963

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2003-11-19Enforcement Action Closed
• 2003-11-19Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2003-11-19Final Order Issued
• 2003-12-02Enforcement Action Data Entered