EPA v. Parkway Iron & Metal Co., Inc.

Case summary

On June 21, 2016, the District Court of New Jersey entered the consent decree between the United States and the Defendant. The consent decree resolves the Defendant's violations of Title VI of the Clean Air Act (the Stratospheric Ozone Protection provisions) and its implementing regulations, 40 C.F.R. Part 82, Subpart F. At its scrap recycling facility in Clifton, New Jersey, the Defendant violated the Act by shredding white goods (e.g., refrigerators and air conditioners) without first removing the refrigerants. To settle the violations, the consent decree requires the Defendant to, among other things: implement a detailed refrigerant and refrigerant-substitute compliance program, including recovering refrigerants or their substitutes at no cost; not reject white goods containing refrigerants or substitutes; and maintain detailed logs of all white goods processed at its facility and refrigerants or substitutes recovered. These compliance requirements will prevent the release of not only ozone-depleting substances (ODS), including chlorofluorocarbons, but also their substitutes, hydrofluorocarbons, which are extremely potent greenhouse gases. The consent decree also requires the Defendant to pay a $145,000 civil penalty to the United States and spend at least $261,000 on a supplemental environmental project to prevent the release of heavy metals and other pollutants into the atmosphere and into the nearby Passaic River via storm water. The project is a pollution prevention SEP.

Defendants (1)

• Parkway Iron & Metal Co., Inc.Named in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• PARKWAY IRON & METAL

  613 639 PIAGET AVENUE, CLIFTON, NJ, 07011

  Registry ID: 110014506329

Statutes cited

• CAA 608 — National Recycling & Emission Reduction Program

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Parkway Iron & Metal Co., Inc.entered 2016-06-21

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $145,000 · SEP: $261,000

Timeline (7 milestones)

• 2013-09-24Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2013-09-25Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2016-05-04Complaint Filed With Court
• 2016-05-04Final Order Lodged
• 2016-06-21Final Order Entered
• 2016-06-21Concluded
• 2020-01-09Enforcement Action Closed