EPA v. CENTER ETHANOL

Case summary

Center Ethanol?s owns an ethanol production facility in Sauget, Illinois. Production at the Facility can be broken down into 4 areas: grain processing, fermentation, Distillation, Dehydration, and Evaporation (DD&E), and storage. Corn bushels are ground into flour in the grain processing area. The flour is then mixed into a slurry to from a mash for fermentation. The mash is then fermented in one of several fermentation tanks. In DD&E, fermented mash is pumped through distillation columns to separate a mixture of 95% ethanol and 5% water. The last 5% of water is removed in the dehydrator to produce 200 proof ethanol. The pure ethanol is sent to two day-tanks in storage. The pure ethanol is then denatured using natural gasoline as it is pumped to final product tanks. The grains that remain after distillation undergo a drying process to remove a majority of the moisture. The dried distiller?s grain is a byproduct created by the process that can be sold. During an April 2017 inspection, EPA discovered several violations of LDAR requirements required by the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) for Equipment Leaks of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) in the Synthetic Organic Chemicals Manufacturing Industry (NSPS VV). Multiple violations were discovered of how Center Ethanol personnel incorrectly performed EPA Method 21 (Method 21) while monitoring equipment at the Facility. Zero leaks were discovered by Center Ethanol personnel for the duration of all records reviewed by EPA. Conversely, EPA discovered several leaks during the April 2017 inspection (the Inspection). This demonstrates that Center Ethanol failed its duty to manage leaks from equipment in its LDAR program and resulted in excess fugitive VOC emissions at the Facility. Violations of the NSPS for Volatile Organic Liquid Storage Vessels (NSPS Kb) and the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP) were discovered by imaging VOC emissions escaping from two tanks using Optical Gas Imaging (OGI) technology. Center Ethanol hired a third-party to inspect the Internal Floating Roofs (IFR) of each tank. The third-party inspection confirmed that the seals of the two tanks were not in serviceable condition. Center Ethanol replaced the seals of all tanks while settlement negotiations were ongoing. The proposed consent decree addresses Clean Air Act violations by Center Ethanol at its ethanol production facility in Sauget, Illinois (the Facility). Center Ethanol shut down production at its 2019 and turned in their permits in May 2019, citing a decline in ethanol demand. If Center Ethanol reactivates the Facility, it must implement a Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) program with mitigation for a period of five years. Based on an ability to pay analysis conducted by Industrial Economics, Center Ethanol will pay a $20,000 civil penalty. Center Ethanol provided financial information such as corporate tax returns and third-party audited financial statements in September 2019, and updated information in April 2021. Among other things, the financial analysis concluded that Center Ethanol?s financial health has worsened since 2019. Industrial Economics confirmed that a penalty of $20,000 is reasonable under these circumstances.

Defendants (1)

• CENTER ETHANOLNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• CENTER ETHANOL CO

  231 MONSANTO AVE, SAUGET, IL, 62201-1010

  Registry ID: 110033218426

Statutes cited

• CAA 111 — New Source Performance Standards
• CAA 110 — Implementation Plan for National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• CENTER ETHANOLentered 2021-10-26

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $20,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2018-09-26Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2018-09-26Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2021-09-09Final Order Lodged
• 2021-09-09Complaint Filed With Court
• 2021-10-26Final Order Entered