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EPA REACHES $19,000 SETTLEMENT WITH SANTA CRUZ CANDY MAKER

Release Date: 10/1/2001
Contact Information: Mike Ardito, U.S. EPA, 415/744-2328

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reached a settlement on Sept. 28  with Harmony Foods Corporation of Santa Cruz, Calif. that calls for the company to pay $19,057 for Clean Air Act violations.
     
     When Harmony Foods consolidated its candy manufacturing operations in 1998 to a central facility at 2200 Delaware Ave., the company failed to obtain permits for its increased volatile organic compound, or "VOC," emissions.  VOCs are a group of compounds that evaporate readily into the atmosphere, contributing significantly to photochemical smog production and certain health problems.  The company also failed to apply appropriate emission controls and obtain offsets for such emissions.

     The company has since switched raw materials, thus reducing its VOC emissions.

     "Last week's settlement strikes a fair balance between Harmony Food's mistakes and its efforts to correct them," said Jack Broadbent, director of the EPA's Air Division in San Francisco.  "Since being notified of the violations, the company has moved quickly to rectify the problem."

     EPA officials discovered the violations during a routine inspection of the facility in February 2000.

     Roughly 200 people work at the 180,000 square-foot Harmony Foods facility in Santa Cruz that manufactures gummy bears, trail mixes, yogurt and chocolate confections, and general candies.