The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 has announced it has reached an agreement with Metal Recycling Systems Inc. (MRS) on alleged clean-air violations at the company’s scrap recycling facility in Blue Island, Ill.
According to an EPA press release, the agreement includes a $30,000 penalty and an environmental project costing $30,000 resolving EPA allegations that MRS failed to comply with EPA regulations designed to protect the stratospheric ozone layer.
In March 2008, EPA cited MRS for failing to recover or to verify recovery of ozone-depleting refrigerants from small appliances that it accepted and processed at its facility. EPA discovered the alleged violations during a January 2008 facility inspection and a subsequent request for information, according to an EPA press release.
For its environmental project, MRS will undertake a one-year program called an Intact Appliance Pilot Program. To carry out the program, the company will offer an increased price for intact appliances as an incentive to its customers not to cut appliance refrigerant lines and unnecessarily and illegally bleed refrigerant. MRS will use its refrigerant recovery equipment to properly collect refrigerant from the appliances it accepts and track the number of appliances processed through the program.
Information about EPA Region 5’s air enforcement program is at http://www.epa.gov/region5/air/enforce/index.html .
For its environmental project, MRS will undertake a one-year program called an Intact Appliance Pilot Program. To carry out the program, the company will offer an increased price for intact appliances as an incentive to its customers not to cut appliance refrigerant lines and unnecessarily and illegally bleed refrigerant. MRS will use its refrigerant recovery equipment to properly collect refrigerant from the appliances it accepts and track the number of appliances processed through the program.
Information about EPA Region 5’s air enforcement program is at http://www.epa.gov/region5/air/enforce/index.html .