Recycler, Contractor Fined for Mishandling Transformers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that two companies, Fluor-Hanford, and Twin City Metals have agreed to pay a combined penalty of $84,800 for mishandling PCB-contaminated transformers.

Twin City Metals is a Richland, Wash., metal recycling firm. Fluor-Hanford was the primary clean-up contractor at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Reservation.

Last May, 60 transformers were transported by trucks from Hanford to TCM. Fluor arranged the transfer on behalf of the DOE. One of the transformers contained about 50 gallons of fluid contaminated with PCBs.

The next day, as TCM was handling the transformers for the purpose of brokering the transformer metal for re-sale, fluid was spilled from the PCB-contaminated transformer. According to documents associated with the investigation, TCM notified Fluor about this spill later that day, but Fluor took no immediate action to either limit or abate the spill. A significant portion of the fluid was spilled onto soil at TCM, but contaminated fluid was also spilled onto equipment and other surfaces.

Several TCM employees may have been exposed to PCBs by either handling the contaminated transformer, or walking though contaminated soil where fluid had spilled from the transformer.

The next day, the PCB-contaminated transformer was transported by truck to Joseph Simon and Sons, Inc., a recycling business in Tacoma, Wash. The PCB-contaminated transformer was offloaded at JS&S and employees of JS&S may have been exposed to PCBs by handling the contaminated transformer.

Approximately a week later, Fluor obtained a sampling results which confirmed that the transformer had spilled PCB contaminated fluid. Fluor initiated cleanup actions at the homes of workers who were potentially exposed to the PCBs as well as at both the TCM and JS&S facilities.

According to the Consent Agreement, the settlement terms included Fluor paying a penalty of $54,800 and Twin City Metals paying a penalty of $30,000. Both companies have 30 days from the filing of the Final Order to submit payment to the U.S. EPA penalties & finance center.