The US Department of Justice and the US Environmental Protection Agency announced that Aleris International Inc and 13 of its subsidiaries have committed to implementing environmental improvements and controls projected to cost USD 4.2 million at 15 plants in 11 states.
The company also agreed to a USD 4.6 million civil penalty to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act which will be allowed as an unsecured claim in Aleris’ bankruptcy proceeding pending in Delaware.
The consent decree requires Aleris to better enclose its furnaces to improve the capture of emissions, retest every furnace using model test protocols, adopt model recordkeeping and reporting documents and install pollution control or monitoring equipment at particular facilities. The settlement is expected to reduce annual emissions of particulate matter by up to 24,000 pounds, hydrogen chloride by up to 870,000 pounds and dioxins and furans by up to 1 pound per year. Dioxins and furans, created during incineration are known to cause cancer and are extremely toxic at low levels.
Mr Cynthia Giles assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said that "Today’s settlement sets a new standard for aluminum recyclers nationwide. This will ultimately result in cleaner air for the people living near Aleris facilities throughout the country."
In a complaint filed last February in the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, the US alleged that Aleris violated the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Secondary Aluminum Production, which became effective in 2003. The complaint alleged that Aleris failed to design and install adequate systems to capture emissions of pollutants, to demonstrate compliance with federal emission standards through adequate performance testing, to correctly establish and monitor operating parameters and to comply with recordkeeping and reporting requirements.
The settlement requires Aleris and its subsidiaries to implement pollution controls and take other compliance measures at facilities located in Goodyear, Ariz.; Post Falls, Idaho; Morgantown and Lewisport, Ky.; Chicago Heights, Ill; Wabash, Ind; Coldwater and Saginaw, Mich; Uhrichsville, Ohio; Sapulpa, Okla.; Loudon and Shelbyville, Tenn.; Richmond, Va.; and Friendly, W.Va. The states of Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia and Maricopa County, Ariz., joined today’s settlement and will share a portion of the civil penalty. This is the largest number of facilities ever included in a Clean Air Act settlement involving the secondary aluminum production industry.
