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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice Settle Hazardous Waste Case with Rhode Island Company

Release Date: 04/04/2002
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617) 918-1013 Dana Perino, U.S. Department of Justice Press Office (202) 514-2008

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency along with the U.S. Department of Justice today announced it has settled a case with a Pawtucket, R.I. manufacturing company for alleged violations of federal environmental regulations.

Located on Esten Avenue, Cooley, Inc. manufactures coated fabrics used to make tarps, boats, water booms, signs and other items. In this case, EPA found that, in the 1990s, the company violated the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Air Act (CAA).

With this consent decree, Cooley will pay a penalty of $325,000 and implement a supplemental environmental project (SEP) that is expected to cost approximately $1.6 million.

Among the RCRA violations alleged were that the company did not get a permit for treatment and storage of hazardous waste, that it handled and managed its hazardous waste improperly, that it failed to train its employees in hazardous waste management, and that it kept inadequate records.

"These violations were significant, and they put employees and the environment at risk unnecessarily," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "Fortunately, no known environmental harm came from these violations, but the opportunity certainly was there."

The alleged CAA violations happened beginning in 1991 and 1993 when the company modified a coating line which uses volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and thus increased potential VOC emissions.

Cooley carried out the modifications without obtaining the necessary preconstruction and operating permits from the state of Rhode Island. Cooley is also alleged to have violated the new source performance standards (NSPS) by failing to comply with certain record keeping requirements relating to VOC usage. VOCs are a key component in smog and the manufacturing sector is a major VOC emitter in New England.

"Every summer, New England struggles with bad air quality days because of the smog-causing VOCs being put into the air. It is incumbent upon all of the region's manufacturing companies to keep their VOC emissions down by following environmental regulations," Varney said.

"The Department of Justice is committed to working with EPA to ensure that RCRA, the Clean Air Act, and all other environmental laws are fully complied with," said Tom Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Those entities that do not fully comply with these laws – such as Cooley – will be penalized for their noncompliance."

Varney did note that Cooley officials have been cooperative during EPA's investigation and development of this case and he applauded the unique supplemental environmental project they will undertake.

The SEP involves implementation of a recycling program that converts polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other thermoplastic wastes, such as carpeting, into flooring products. The SEP is intended to reduce the amount of PVC and thermoplastic wastes disposed of in landfills and incinerators and to reduce the demand for virgin plastic resins.

Under the Decree, Cooley will implement the SEP in consecutive phases over five years. In addition, Cooley must successfully recycle at least 25 million pounds of waste that would otherwise have been thrown away.

"This is an outstanding SEP that, we hope, will have long-lasting effects for Cooley and the community it is in. It is the type of recycling project that more businesses should consider undertaking," Varney said.

In signing the decree, the company admitted neither guilt nor innocence in the case. The decree also requires Cooley to disclose the technology it will use to implement the SEP to the public and other businesses by placing a disclosure statement on its Web site and by publishing a notice in trade journals that the disclosure statement is available.

More information about environmental issues related to this case are available at the following EPA New England Web sites.

For information about VOCs, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region01/eco/ozone/piechart.html
For information about RCRA, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region1/compliance/enfwaste.html
For information about air enforcement, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region1/compliance/enfair.html
For information about the Clean Air Act, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region1/topics/air/cleanair.html
For information about SEPs, visit: https://www.epa.gov/region1/compliance/enfsep.html

The U.S. Department of Justice's Web site is: http://www.usdoj.gov