Recycler Reaches Agreement with NJ DEP

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's announced a settlement agreement with Mid-Atlantic Recycling Technologies, Inc. and Casie Ecology Oil Salvage Inc., that addresses MART's air pollution and solid waste recycling violations while helping to sustain the facility's economic viability.

Odors and dust from Mart's remedial operations, which include the recycling of petroleum- and coal tar-contaminated soils, have impacted residents of the city of Vineland, N.J., since last year. On at least 30 occasions, the DEP verified public complaints of odors over a 12-month period.

Twelve Administrative Orders were issued by DEP to the facility between February 2001 and April 2002 for air pollution violations. Eleven subsequent air violations occurred and were cited by the DEP during settlement negotiations. In addition to being a source of odors that impacted residents in the surrounding community, the facility failed to operate oil separation equipment in accordance with their air pollution permits. DEP stack tests also determined that MART exceeded allowable particulate emissions from the soil processing equipment in March, May and June 2002.

In March 2002, an additional DEP Administrative Order was issued to MART for recycling violations.

The consent agreement provides MART an acceptable time frame to achieve compliance with its solid waste recycling and air permits. The agreement calls for reducing the size of unprocessed on-site soils by this December, and reducing the height of the processed soil pile to 35 feet by this coming February. The facility is required to develop and submit to the department a Dust Management Plan for all operations at the MART facility.

The agreement also requires MART to conduct quarterly stack emission tests to ensure that the soil processing equipment complies with the air pollution permit. Additionally, it requires the facility to have an independent third party evaluate the equipment and standard operating procedures and submit a report to the DEP to ensure sufficient future compliance.

As part of the settlement agreement, MART and CASIE agreed to pay the DEP a penalty of $250,000 by August 2004.

The settlement ends a lawsuit filed by the city of Vineland against the recycler, as well as a counter suit filed by MART against the city.