EPA v. FERRO CORP; GRANT CHEMICAL DIVISION

Case summary

N A T U R E O F T H E C A S E FERRO'S GRANT CHEM DIV. OPERATES A CHEMICAL MANUFACTURING AND BLENDING FACILITY IN BATON ROUGE. THE CO'S WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY HAS AN NPDES PERMIT (# LA0004057) WHICH WAS ISSUED BY EPA IN 1978 AND IS CURRENTLY UNDER ADMIN EXTENSION. DMR'S SUBMITTED BY GRANT, AS WELL AS INSPECTIONS BY STATE AND EPA INSPECTORS, INDICATE THAT THE CO HAS BEEN IN VIOLATION OF ONE EFFLUENT LIMIT OR ANOTHER ON VIRTUALLY A CONTINUOUS BASIS SINCE 1979. PARAMETER LIMITS FOR TSS, BOD, PH, COD, OIL & GREASE, AND MERCURY HAVE BEEN EXCEEDED ROUTINELY. ADMIN ORDERS WERE ISSUED BY REGION VI IN 1979 AND 1980. THESE ORDERS LISTED A SERIES OF VIOLATIONS OF PERMIT REQUIREMENTS BY GRANT. LAB CALIBRATION EQUIPMENT, MAINTENANCE RECORDS, AND QUALITY ASSURANCE RECORDS WERE NOT BEING MAINTAINED. DUPLICATE AND ROUTINE SAMPLES WERE NOT ANALYZED AND DMRS WERE IMPROPERLY COMPUTED AND RECORDED. THE ORDERS GENERALLY DIRECTED THE CO TO CORRECT THE CAUSES OF DISCHARGE VIOLATIONS, AND SPECIFICALLY TO CORRECT A BREAKDOWN IN THE SYSTEM WHEREBY DISCHARGE POINTS AT VARIANCE WITH THOSE CONTAINED IN THE PERMIT OCCURRED ALONG WITH BYPASSING AT TIMES OF HEAVY RAIN. ON BOTH OCCASIONS, GRANT IMPLEMENTED ITS OWN PROPOSALS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEMS AT THE PLANT; HOWEVER, THE ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN EACH TIME FAILED TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS, EVEN THOUGH THEY APPEARED TO BE REASONABLE SOLUTIONS WHEN ORIGINALLY SUGGESTED. OVER THE YEARS, GRANT HAS MADE EFFORTS TO CORRECT THE PROBLEMS AT ITS PLANT. HOWEVER, DUE TO POOR MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND SOME SLUGGISHNESS IN PURSUING SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS, THE VIOLATIONS HAVE PERSISTED. THE REGION ALSO EXPRESSES THE BELIEF THAT SOME OF THE CONSIDERABLE AMOUNTS OF MONEY EXPENDED BY GRANT OVER THE YEARS (OVER $700,000 IN CAPITAL EXPENDITURES), HAS BEEN MIS-DIRECTED TO SOME DEGREE, AT LEAST AS FAR AS ACHIEVING THE BEST POSSIBLE RESULTS ARE CONCERNED. THE CO IS PRESENTLY UNDER AN ADMIN ORDER ISSUED BY THE LA DEPT OF NATURAL RESOURCES (LADNR) ON 1/18/84. AS A RESULT, GRANT IS FOLLOWING A CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULE WHICH IS DESIGNED TO HAVE THE CO'S NEW FACILITIES IN OPERATION BY 5/1/85. GRANT IS IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY ITS CON- SULTANT, ENGINEERING-SCIENCE (E-S). WHILE THE SCHEDULE IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO RESULT IN COMPLIANCE WITH PERMIT LIMITS FOR THE LADNR-CONTROLLED OUTFALLS, IT IS BELIEVED THAT THIS CONSTRUCTION WILL ALSO ALLOW GRANT TO MEET ITS NPDES PERMIT REQUIREMENTS. MAJOR PROBLEMS THAT MUST BE CORRECTED IN ORDER FOR THE CO TO ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE INCLUDE STORMWATER SEGREGATION AND RUNOFF CONTROL TO ALLEVIATE SURGE TYPE HYDRAULIC LOADING THAT THE BIOLOGICAL TREATMENT SYSTEM RECEIVES, AND REVISIONS TO THE PLANT THAT WILL PROVIDE FOR INCREASED AERATION AND AERATED LAGOON CAPACITY. THE REGION ALSO NOTES THAT SLUDGE HANDING PRACTICES AS WELL AS THE WASTE-ACTIVED SLUDGE SYSTEM MUST BE IMPROVED TO ALLOW FOR MORE DIGESTION AND DRYING BED CAPACITY, WHILE DE- CREASING THE VOLUME OF INERT SOLIDS BEING HANDLED IN THE SYSTEM. THE E-S REPORT ADDRESSES THESE & OTHER PROBLEMS. THE VIOLATIONS ARE NOT KNOWN TO HAVE HAD ANY ACTUAL ADVERSE ENVIRONMENTAL OR HUMAN HEALTH EFFECTS. OF COURSE ANY DISCHARGE IN EXCESS OF PERMITTED LIMITS POSES A POTEN- TIAL FOR HEALTH AND ENVRIONMENTAL CONSEQUENCES. IN THAT VEIN, THE REGION DOES NOTE THAT ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS GRANT HAS EXCEEDED BOTH DAILY AVERAGE AND MAXIMUM LIMITS FOR MERCURY. THE SIERRA CLUB HAD PREVIOUSLY FILED A CITIZEN'S SUIT, CIV. NO. 84-403-B. THE STATE OF LOUISIANA HAS INTERVENED IN THE SIERRA CLUB SUIT AND THE UNITED STATES' SUIT.

Defendants (1)

• GRANT CHEMICAL DIVISIONNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (2)

• FERRO CORPORATION GRANT CHEMICAL DIVISION

  111 WEST IRENE ROAD, ZACHARY, LA, 70791

  Registry ID: 110000449934

• FERRO CORPORATION GRANT CHEMICAL DIVISION

  111 WEST IRENE ROAD, ZACHARY, LA, 70791

  Registry ID: 110000449934

Statutes cited

• CWA 402 — Clean Water Act
• CWA 301 — NPDES Discharge without a Permit

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• FERRO CORPORATIONentered 1987-03-24

  Primary law: CWA

  Federal penalty: $200,000

Timeline (11 milestones)

• 1984-02-06Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 1984-02-15Referred To Headquarters
• 1984-03-12Returned To Region
• 1984-03-30Rereferred
• 1984-05-02Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 1984-06-22Referred TO U.S. Attorney
• 1984-06-28Complaint Filed With Court
• 1987-03-24Final Order Lodged
• 1987-03-24Final Order Entered
• 1987-03-24Concluded
• 1987-03-24Enforcement Action Closed