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EPA CITES WESTFORD METAL PLATER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS

Release Date: 07/08/1996
Contact Information: Alice Kaufman, EPA-New England Press Office; (617) 918-1064

BOSTON - Westford Anodizing, a metal plater in Westford, Massachusetts, faces a $208,800 environmental penalty for violations of federal waste management and water quality laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's New England regional office announced today.

Specifically, EPA proposed a penalty of $118,800 under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and $90,000 under the Clean Water Act.

"We have been working aggressively with the metal plating industry to bring facilities into compliance," said John DeVillars, regional administrator for the New England office of EPA. "But when we need to bring about results by other means, we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers."

According to EPA, Westford Anodizing stored 18,000 pounds of plating waste longer than allowed under federal law and without the required permit. EPA also claims that the company failed to properly label waste containers at its facility, failed to keep containers of waste closed while in storage, and failed to have an adequate hazardous waste training plan for company employees.

EPA also cited the company for violations of water quality laws that include: 35 instances since 1990 when Westford Anodizing exceeded effluent limitations of its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit. The permit authorizes the company to discharge strictly regulated quantities of pollutants to Stony Brook. Westford Anodizing is required to test the toxicity of its effluent to ensure that it will not harm common species of aquatic plants and animals: The company's discharge has repeatedly failed these tests.

EPA has ordered the company to undertake two studies to understand the reasons for continued exceedances of effluent limits and to develop the means to maintain compliance with federal environmental laws.

Westford Anodizing is a job shop electroplating facility that plates using copper cyanide, zinc cyanide, gold cyanide, electroless nickel, bright nickel, and chrome. A variety of wastes are generated on-site, of which some are treated through an industrial wastewater treatment plant at the facility, while other wastes are shipped elsewhere for treatment.