EPA v. Reichhold Inc.

Case summary

This is a combined Administrative Complaint/CAFO - Our Consolidated Rules of Practice, now permit the simultaneous commencement and conclusion (settlement) of a proceeding without a complaint. EPA took this approach in this case and offered to settle this matter for $8,220. This reflects a 75% reduction from the $32,879 penalty determined for the late reporting violations involved. EPA sent a CAFO to Reichhold. Background: On June 14, 2004, Reichhold Inc. submitted a voluntary disclosure to EPA pursuant to the Audit Policy, stating that they had failed to file EPCRA Form R Toxic Release Inventory Reports for napthalene for calendar years1998-2002. The facility also stated that they had filed a Form A report in lieu of a Form R report for ethylene glycol for calendar year 2002. The Form R reports were submitted to the EPA on June 21, 2004. On July 21, 2004, EPA sent a letter to Ms. Ellen Radow Sadat, a lawyer representing Reichhold Inc., to request information regarding the amounts of napthalene processed during 1998-2002 and the amount of ethylene glycol processed in 2002. EPA also requested information regarding what prompted the audit, who conducted the audit and facility information. Based on information provided to EPA by Reichhold Inc. on August 30, 2004, Reichhold�s application for 100% mitigation was invalid because they failed to meet the �Systematic Discovery� criterion described in condition D.1. of the Audit Policy. Under Section D.1. the violations must have been discovered through either (a) an environmental audit, or (b) a compliance management system that reflects due diligence in preventing, detecting and correcting violations. Reichhold Inc. indicated that the violations were discovered through a compliance management system. The criteria for this condition were not substantiated. Since Reichhold Inc. appeared to meet conditions D.2.-D.9., EPA is allowing a 75% gravity penalty reduction for the disclosed violations. We propose to settle the matter with a 75% penalty reduction as allowed under the Audit Policy which would bring the penalty to $8,220. This settlement figure reflects a 75% reduction of the gravity based penalty of $32,879 for the remaining violations.

Defendants (1)

• Reichhold Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• REICHHOLD INCORPORATED

  400 DOREMUS AVE., NEWARK, NJ, 07105

  Registry ID: 110000319502

Statutes cited

• EPCRA 313 — Toxic Chemical Release Reporting (TRI)

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Reichhold Inc.entered 2005-02-25

  Primary law: EPCRA

  Federal penalty: $8,220

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2005-02-25Enforcement Action Closed
• 2005-02-25Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2005-02-25Final Order Issued
• 2005-03-10Enforcement Action Data Entered