All News Releases By Date

So. Calif. paint manufacturer agrees to pay $25,000 for failing to submit timely toxic reports

Release Date: 02/23/2006
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute (213) 244-1815

LOS ANGELES -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a $25,000 settlement with a southern California company for allegedly failing to submit toxic chemical reports, a violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Engineered Coating Technology, Inc., located at 2838 East 54th Street in Vernon, Calif., allegedly failed to submit timely, complete, and correct reports detailing the amounts of n-butyl alcohol, ethyl benzene, toluene and xylene released at its facility during calendar years 2001, 2002 and 2003. EPA inspectors discovered the violations during a routine inspection in April 2005.

"Facilities that use toxic chemicals such as n-butyl alcohol, ethyl benzene, toluene or xylene must follow our reporting rules so that area residents and emergency response personnel are informed of possible chemical hazards in the local environment," said Enrique Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems Division Director for EPA's Pacific Southwest region. "This penalty should remind others that we are maintaining a close watch over chemical reporting practices and are serious about enforcing community right-to-know laws."

Federal community right-to-know laws require facilities processing more than 25,000 lbs. each of n-butyl alcohol, ethyl benzene, toluene or xylene to report releases of these chemicals on an annual basis with EPA and the state. Engineered Coating Technology, Inc., exceeded these thresholds in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and failed to submit release reports to EPA for any of these years.

Engineered Coating Technology, Inc., processes n-butyl alcohol, ethyl benzene, toluene or xylene in connection with its paint and coating manufacturing operations. Exposure to these chemicals can irritate the skin, nose and throat, and can cause nausea, dizziness, headache and vomiting.

Each year 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 TRI database includes detailed information on nearly 650 chemicals used by over 23,000 industrial and federal facilities.

For more information on the TRI program, 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.