All News Releases By Date

U.S. EPA settles with San Diego truck lining firm for $24,910 over toxic chemical reporting violations

Release Date: 09/17/2007
Contact Information: Dean Higuchi, 808-541-2711, [email protected]

(09/17/07) LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently settled for $24,910 with a San Diego, Calif. company for allegedly failing to report releases of toxic chemicals, a violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Rhino Linings USA, Inc., located at 9151 Rehco Road, manufactures a polyurethane spray for truck bed liners.

“Facilities that use toxic chemicals must follow the EPA’s reporting rules so that area residents and emergency response personnel are informed of possible chemical hazards in the community,” said Nathan Lau, Communities and Ecosystems Associate Director for the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “We will continue to monitor report submittals to assure compliance with the community’s right to know.”

The company allegedly failed to submit a timely, complete, and correct report detailing the amount of diisocyanates and lead released at its facility in 2004 and 2005. Exposure to diisocyanates may result in severe damage to respiratory systems.

Rhino Linings USA has since submitted the corrected reports.
Each year the EPA compiles the information submitted to it from the previous year regarding toxic chemical releases and produces a national Toxics Release Inventory database for public availability. This database estimates the amounts of each toxic chemical released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management, and also provides a trend analysis of toxic chemical releases.

For more information on the TRI program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/tri. The U.S. EPA’s environmental databases, including the TRI data, can be accessed at: https://www.epa.gov/enviro.

###