COMPANY SETTLES VIOLATIONS OF RESOURCE CONSERVATION RECOVERY ACT

The following excerpt is from the EPA website:

“Southern Wood Piedmont Company Settles Financial Assurance Claims
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that Southern Wood Piedmont Company and its parent company, Rayonier Inc., have agreed to pay a $317,000 penalty to resolve violations of hazardous waste financial assurance requirements and have obtained more than $41.7 million in financial assurance. Financial assurance protects public health and the environment by ensuring that financial resources are available to properly close and clean up facilities in the event that an owner or operator defaults on its closure, post-closure, or cleanup obligations under environmental laws.
“EPA is committed to bringing hazardous waste facilities into compliance with financial assurance requirements that prevent shifting future cleanup costs onto taxpayers,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s settlement will reduce the likelihood of improper handling of hazardous waste and ensure that environmental damage at these facilities can be properly cleaned up.”

On February 4, 2010, EPA sent a notice of violation to Southern Wood Piedmont Company notifying the company that its hazardous waste facilities were not in compliance with applicable financial assurance requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and it needed to obtain qualifying financial assurance for these obligations.


 Southern Wood Piedmont Company also had inadequate RCRA financial assurance coverage at a facility in Chattanooga, Tenn. not covered by EPA’s administrative agreement. In 2010, EPA worked with Tennessee to ensure that Southern Wood Piedmont Company obtained an additional $1.6 million in financial assurance for that facility.


 Southern Wood Piedmont Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rayonier, Inc., a global forest products company, involved in the ownership, leasing, and management of forest resources and related real estate, and the production of performance fibers.”

COMPANY AND IT'S PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY TO STORING TOXIC CONCENTRATIONS OF LEAD AND CADMIUM

Franklin Foundry and Company President Pleaded Guilty to Illegally Storing Hazardous Waste

The following excerpt is from the EPA website:

“WASHINGTON – John R. Wiehl and the company, Franklin Non-Ferrous Foundry, Inc., pleaded guilty to unlawfully storing hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Wiehl, 64, is the president of the foundry, which is located in Franklin, N.H.  The company manufactures a variety of metal parts for various industrial applications. A byproduct of the foundry’s operation is the generation of waste containing hazardous or toxic concentrations of lead and cadmium. Exposure to lead and cadmium can cause or contribute to a range of health effects, including behavioral problems, learning disabilities and kidney disease.

In April and August 2009, two workplace inspections conducted by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the company was illegally storing hazardous waste. Under RCRA, a generator may not store hazardous waste at its facility for more than 90 days without a permit. OSHA reported the findings of their inspections to EPA. In December 2009, EPA executed a search warrant at the foundry and discovered drums of hazardous waste stored on the premises.

In August 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Wiehl and Franklin Non-Ferrous Foundry for unlawfully accumulating and storing lead and cadmium hazardous waste at the foundry site since July 2005. Neither Wiehl nor the company had been issued a permit to store hazardous waste for more than 90 days. The company was cited by EPA for similar violations in 2002 and 2005, but neither the company nor Wiehl previously faced criminal charges.

Wiehl faces a possible maximum sentence of two years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Under the terms of a plea agreement filed with the court, the United States Attorney’s Office has agreed to recommend that he serve two years of probation, six months of house arrest, and that he publish a public apology. Franklin Non-Ferrous Foundry, Inc is facing a possible maximum fine of $500,000.”