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HAWAIIAN CEMENT TO PAY $1.16 MILLION FINE, CLEAN UP AIR POLLUTION

Release Date: 9/15/1997
Contact Information: Dave Schmidt, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1578

     (San Francisco) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Hawaiian Cement has agreed to pay $1.16 million to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at the company's cement plant in the Campbell Industrial Park on Oahu, according to the terms of a consent decree filed in federal district court today.  The violations involve fugitive dust emissions that exceeded state limits.  Hawaiian Cement has also agreed to take specific measures to reduce air pollution at the facility.

     "This is an important action for the environment and public health in Hawaii," said Felicia Marcus, Regional Administrator for EPA's western region.  "Dust emissions of the magnitude that Hawaiian Cement's plant was releasing into the air can have serious impacts on public health and the environment.  This settlement will greatly reduce the threat from these emissions, and the penalty sends a clear message that violations like this will not be tolerated."

     "All Americans have a right to know that the air they breathe is clean," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.  "Effective enforcement is an important tool toward that goal. This settlement is a result of such enforcement and demonstrates our commitment to protecting that right."  

     U.S. EPA required monitoring of dust emissions from the facility over a three month period and found that the facility greatly exceeded state limits during most of that period.  The state limits for dust emissions are part of Hawaii's U.S. EPA-approved air quality plan to meet national health standards.  Pollution from particulate matter can cause a variety of respiratory problems, ranging from throat irritation in healthy adults, to exacerbated asthma in children and adults who have asthma, to premature death in people suffering from lung diseases.

     The consent decree requires that Hawaiian Cement must meet specified deadlines to take measures to reduce dust emissions from the cement plant. These measures include building an enclosure around the plant's finish mills (which grind materials such as clinker and gypsum into cement) to contain dust emissions from the mills, and a number of other actions designed to make Hawaiian Cement monitor its daily operations more closely and keep equipment in good repair.  In addition, Hawaiian Cement will study the area offshore from the plant to determine if dust emissions that have blown offshore have damaged marine life. If so, the company must take steps to restore these resources.  The Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) assisted U.S. EPA with this case. HDOH  earlier brought a separate case against Hawaiian Cement for air pollution violations involving the opacity of emissions.

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