Penalty Imposed on Company for Improper Storage, Disposal

The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced that an administrative law judge has assessed a $151,800 penalty against Environmental Protection Services, Inc. for improper storage and disposal of equipment containing PCBs at the company’s scrap metal recovery facility in Wheeling, W.V.

In a decision last week, Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski ruled that EPS was liable for violating federal regulations designed to protect public health and the environment from PCBs, a toxic substance and probable human carcinogen.

The 2001 complaint against EPS was EPA’s first case enforcing TSCA regulations for the burning of PCB-contaminated materials in scrap metal ovens.

EPS operates a commercial PCB storage and disposal facility in Wheeling. After inspecting the facility, EPA cited the company for violating storage limits for transformers and capacitors containing PCBs. EPA inspections also discovered violations of time and temperature requirements for the burning of PCB-contaminated materials in scrap metal recovery ovens.

Judge Charneski’s decision upholding EPA’s complaint and proposed penalty followed 15 days of hearings conducted in Wheeling, W.Va. and Philadelphia, Pa., in 2003 and 2004. After rejecting the company’s defenses, the judge found that “EPS was highly negligent” in exceeding storage limits for PCB capacitors and transformers. The judge also found a “high degree of negligence” resulting from the company’s violation of PCB regulations for incineration in scrap metal ovens. The judge noted violations relating to insufficient time and temperature being applied to the PCB-contaminated materials during 15 burn cycles on 11 randomly selected dates in 1999.

The company has a 30-day period to appeal this decision to EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board. For more information on the health effects, regulations, and cleanup of PCBs.