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Appeals Board Uphold’s EPA’s Role in RCRA Case - Bil-Dry Found Liable for Improperly Storing Hazardous Waste

Release Date: 2/15/2001
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board found the Bil-Dry Corporation liable for violating federal and Pennsylvania hazardous waste management regulations. Bil-Dry, a commercial construction products company, makes paints, grout, and caulking.

In finding Bil-Dry liable, the three-member board in its January 18, 2001 decision, rejected the company’s use of a Harmon defense to stop EPA’s case. The board recognized that the state had not taken previous enforcement concerning the violations discovered in an EPA inspection, Pennsylvania and EPA had agreed prior to the enforcement action EPA would take the lead on this case, and EPA’s over-filing authority is well established, and the Bil-Dry case did not involve an over-filing action.

In its decision, the board also extensively discussed what constitutes a solid waste under the federal and federally authorized Pennsylvania hazardous waste management regulations. At its facility in southeast Philadelphia, Bil-Dry improperly managed and stored hazardous waste near hundreds of other drums, posing a potential health threat.

Administrative Law Judge Stephen McGuire, who initially heard the case, found the company liable for a $103,400 penalty for improperly managing, disposing of, and storing hazardous waste in three drums and three tanks at its facility.

On appeal, the board reduced the penalty to $89,150 because the administrative record did not prove that the company was the generator of the hazardous wastes that were improperly stored in the three tanks.

The board’s decision is on line at: https://www.epa.gov/eab/disk11/bildry.pdf .