EPA v. TRIALCO INC - CD

Case summary

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice have reached a settlement between the United States and Trialco Aluminum, LLC (Trialco) to resolve Clean Air Act (CAA) violations at the company?s facilities in Chicago Heights, Illinois. The parties have entered into a Consent Decree requiring that Trialco complete steps to achieve compliance with the Secondary Aluminum Production NESHAP (NESHAP) and its Federally Enforceable State Operating Permit (FESOP). The company has also agreed to pay a $1,000,000 civil penalty to resolve its alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. Trialco is a secondary aluminum production facility that operates two furnaces, the Main Furnace (MF) and Small Furnace (SF), each equipped with a lime and ammonia-injected baghouse to reduce particulate matter (PM), dioxins and furans (D/F), hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF), and chlorine (Cl2) emissions. On January 4, 2019 and on March 27, 2023, EPA issued Trialco Notices and Findings of Violation (NOV/FOV) for violating operating limits and monitoring requirements for capture and collection, baghouse inlet temperature, lime injection rate and chlorine flux injection rate, in violation of the NESHAP. In addition, Trialco violated its FESOP by failing to operate its baghouses when the furnaces were operating, and failing to meet the HCl and PM limits on its SF. Immediately after issuance of the 2019 NOV/FOV, Trialco began implementing capital projects to achieve compliance with the NESHAP, including: (1) Installing an enhanced compliance monitoring system to monitor and record operating parameters, including the on/off status of the furnaces and baghouses; (2) Implementing improvements to the capture and collection systems on the MF and SF, including reducing open areas, installing a larger fan, installing flow measurement ports, and conducting an engineering assessment; (3) Installing a new bag leak detection system on the MF and SF baghouses and conducting the required calibrations and operational adjustments; (4) Implementing improvements to the baghouses' lime injection systems, including modifying the hopper to prevent clogs and installing a continuous lime system; (5) Modifying the gaseous chlorine injection system to monitor and record chlorine separately into the MF and SF; and (6) Stack testing the MF and SF to establish operating parameter values. Trialco is currently substantially in compliance with the NESHAP but will re-assess its capture and collection system to ensure it meets the NESHAP, monitor operating parameter limits and revise its FESOP to ensure the SF HCl and PM limits reflect stack test results. Trialco will also pay a penalty of $1 M.

Defendants (1)

• TRIALCO INCNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (1)

• TRIALCO ALUMINUM LLC

  900 E 14TH ST, CHICAGO HEIGHTS, IL, 60411-2992

  Registry ID: 110000432434

Statutes cited

• CAA 112 — Hazardous Air Pollutants
• CAA 110 — Implementation Plan for National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• TRIALCO INCentered 2025-08-25

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $1,000,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2023-08-15Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2023-08-18Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2025-07-02Complaint Filed With Court
• 2025-07-02Final Order Lodged
• 2025-08-25Final Order Entered