EPA v. SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC. (SIC)

Case summary

9/4/14 - CONSENT AGMT ISSUED, ASSESSING A PENALTY OF $74,900, PLUS INTEREST, DUE IN 4 EQUAL INSTALLMENTS. ALLEGATIONS: ON 11/30/11 - GAEPD'S HAZARDOUS WASTE COMPLIANCE PROGRAM CONDUCTED A HAZARDOUS WASTE INSPECTION AT THE FACILITY AND DISCOVERED THAT RESPONDENT HAD BEEN GENERATING AND STORING HAZ WASTE W/OUT HAVING NOTIFIED GAEPD OF HAZ WASTE ACTIVITY AND W/OUT HAVING RECEIVED AN ID NUMBER. ON JAN 18 AND 30, 2012, EPA COMPLIANCE EVALUATION INSPECTION (CEIs) AT THE FACILITY. AT THAT TIME, RESPONDENT WAS AN LQG OF HAZ WASTE. INSPECTORS OBSERVED THE WAREHOUSE PORTION OF THE FACILITY FILLED WITH AN APPROXIMATION OF OVER 1,000 CONTAINERS FULL AND PARTIALLY FULL, INCLUDING NUMEROUS 55-GAL CONTAINERS LABELED AS NICKEL WASTE, NO GOOD OR CHROME WASTE. CONAINTERS STORED AT THE FACILITY ALSO INCLUDED BOTTLES AND JARS OF USED LAB CHEMICALS AND QA/QA SAMPLES THAT WERE COVERED IN DUST AND DEGRADING, AND SOME OF WHICH WERE STORED IN CARDBOARD BOXES DATING BACK TO 1994. RESPONDENT HAD NOT COMPLETED A HAZ WASTE DETERMINATION ON ANY OF THESE WASTES GENERATED AND STORED ONSITE. INSPECTORS OBSERVED NUMEROUS CONTAINERS OF HAZ WASTE EITHER UNLABELED OR MARKED WITH THE WORDS NO GOOD OR CHROME WASTE. NONE OF THE CONTAINERS WERE MARKED WITH THE WORDS HAZARDOUS WASTE. INSPECTORS OBSERVED OPEN CONTAINERS OF HAZARDOUS WASTE THAT WERE LEAKING, DISSOLVING AND/OR RUSTING. INSPECTORS OBSERVED CONTAINERS OF HAZ WASTE STORED ON PALLETS (4 TO A PALLET), STACKED 3 TO 5 PALLETS HIGH W/OUT SUFFICIENT AISLE SPACE TO PROVIDE FOR INSPECTION OF MATERIALS AT THE BACK OF THE WAREHOUSE, OR TO ALLOW FOR THE UNOBSTRUCTED MOVEMENT OF PERSONNEL, FIRE PROTECTION EQUIPMENT, SPILL CONTROL EQUIPMENT, OR OTHER DECONTAMINATION EQUIPMENT IN THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY. INSPECTORS NOTED, AND RESPONDENT LATER CONFIRMED, THAT RESPONDENT HAD NOT BEEN CONDUCTING WEEKLY INSPECTIONS OF HAZ WASTE CONTAINERS STORED IN THE WAREHOUSE. INSPECTORS OBSERVED THAT RESPONDENT HAD FAILED TO MAINTAIN AND OPERATE ITS FACILITY IN A MANNER THAT MINIMIZED THE POSSIBILITY OF A RELEASE OF HAZ WASTE OR HAZ WASTE CONSTITUENTS BECAUSE OF THE HUNDREDS OF HAZ WASTE CONTAINERS FOUND TO BE LEAKING, DISSOLVING, AND/OR RUSTING.

Defendants (1)

• SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC.Named in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC.

  1450 MARIETTA BLVD NW #4144, ATLANTA, GA, 30318

  Registry ID: 110000859848

Statutes cited

• RCRA 3005 — Permits for Treatment, Storage, or Disposal of Hazardous Waste
• RCRA 3002 — Standards Applicable to Generators of Hazardous Waste

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• SOUTHERN INDUSTRIAL CHEMICALS, INC. (SIC)entered 2014-09-04

  Primary law: RCRA

  Federal penalty: $17,000

Timeline (4 milestones)

• 2014-09-04Final Order Issued
• 2014-09-04Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2014-09-18Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2015-04-15Enforcement Action Closed