Sims Metal Management New England, EPA resolve Clean Air Act claims

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Sims Metal Management (SMM) New England Corp., Johnston, Rhode Island, have reached a settlement resolving administrative penalty claims that the company allegedly violated the federal Clean Air Act. Under the settlement, SMM will come into compliance with state and federal clean air requirements and will pay $250,000 in penalties.

“These settlements send a strong message that all facilities are required to comply with the Clean Air Act and state permitting regulations to control harmful air emissions,” says Dennis Deziel, regional administrator of the EPA’s Region 1 office.

According to a statement from Sims Metal Management, the company says it settled a matter with the state of Rhode Island that had been in the works “for some time.”

“Sims Metal Management worked cooperatively and in good faith with the state to obtain this resolution,” the company says in a statement to Recycling Today. “This matter pertains to complaints about alleged air emissions from the Sims Metal Management shredder in Johnston, Rhode Island, which has not been in operation since April 6, 2020. While the U.S. EPA participated in the negotiations, the state was the lead governmental organization.”

EPA in concert with Rhode Island’s attorney general and the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) had alleged that SMM constructed a new major source of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions without securing a permit and without installing required emissions controls, the EPA states in a news release on the settlement with SMM. In Rhode Island’s related action, the Rhode Island Superior Court finalized a consent judgment in September under which SMM will pay a separate penalty to the state and will take steps necessary to come into compliance with air permitting and air pollution control requirements.

The metal shredder that SMM owns and operates at its Johnston location shreds end-of-life automobiles, appliances and other light gauge recyclable metal-bearing materials. This electrically operated, 7,000-horsepower shredder generates enough heat to melt or burn the plastics, paints and oils in the scrap metal materials, which the EPA says cause emissions of VOCs, particulate matter and toxic air contaminants.

“As is typical for this sort of settlement, the settlement agreement with the state (called a consent judgment) was filed with the court at the same time as the state filed a complaint, which was needed so that a court may have a basis to approve the settlement. It is worth noting that this case was about regulatory compliance, specifically about what type of permit this shredder needed. The issue here was our desire to be responsible members of the community,” the company states. “Even though we continue to believe that we did not require the type of permit alleged in the complaint, we wanted to put this issue past us and focus on how best to go forward in Rhode Island in a COVID and post-COVID world.”

According to the statement from Sims, this latest resolution with the EPA was reached at the same time as the settlement with the state of Rhode Island. The U.S. EPA elected to file its administrative resolution, called a consent agreement and final order, only after the court approved the state settlement. Court approval occurred Sept. 21 and the resolution with the U.S. EPA was filed Sept. 25.

“RIDEM is pleased with the settlement reached in this important case, and that our collective efforts with the attorney general and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will result in the company coming into compliance with Rhode Island's Clean Air Act,” says Department of Environmental Management Director Janet Coit.