Issue No. 9

The Environmental & Safety Newsletter 

for Vehicle Maintenance & Refueling Operations

Nov. 11, 2003

A Service of 

Automotive Environmental & Safety Engineering

  Specializing in Environmental/EPA and Safety/OSHA Compliance, Auditing and   Training Guides for Fleet and Vehicle Maintenance Operations.

www.envirosafeshop.com 

Below is a summary of the latest EPA and OSHA news and enforcement activity related to vehicle maintenance and refueling operations and other items of interest since July 1, 2003. Feel free to forward this on to others with all links intact. Feedback welcome: comply@envirosafeshop.com 

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IN THIS ISSUE

EPA Fines Costco $16,844 for Not Reporting Forklift Battery Lead/ Acid Content 

 

EPA Fines Continental Airlines $21,000 for Hazardous Waste Violations at Aircraft Vehicle Maintenance Facility at LAX

 

EPA Fines Arizona Farm $11,000 for Diesel Spill

EPA Publishes Summary of Diesel Idling Rules 

EPA Teaching Hard “Lessons” to Colleges FAA Hazmat Warning to Shops 

 

EPA PROPOSES $260,000 PENALTY AGAINST ARKANSAS
DISTRIBUTOR FOR UST VIOLATIONS

Virginia Proposed Law to Force Waste-Import Haulers to List Items and Sources

Four Trucking Firm CEOs Named Dirty Air Villians for Promoting a Delay in 2007 Air Standards

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EPA Fines Continental Airlines $21,000 for Hazardous Waste Violations at Aircraft Vehicle Maintenance Facility at LAX

In October 2003, EPA announced it has settled a case with Continental Airlines over violations of federal hazardous waste regulations at a maintenance shop at Los Angeles International Airport. Continental will pay a penalty of $20,950.82 to resolve five violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
Continental was charged with the following counts:

Failure to determine if some waste being generated at the
maintenance shop was indeed hazardous;

Failure to conduct weekly inspections where hazardous waste
is stored;

Failure to properly maintain the facility's contingency
plan in case of a hazardous waste
spill;

Leaving a hazardous waste container open; and

Storage of hazardous waste without a permit.

EPA also announced it has taken a similar action against Los Angeles World Airports for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act at Los Angeles International Airport. The penalty in that case was $74,635.

EPA Fines Arizona Farm $11,000 for Diesel Spill

Farmer Says Cause was Vandalism

In September 2003, EPA fined the landowner and the operator of a Cibola, Ariz. farm $11,000 for a diesel oil spill that reached the Colorado River in 2002.

Landowner Wayne Sprawls Family Trust and Red River Farms estimated 564 gallons of diesel oil drained from a storage tank and reached the Colorado River 30 feet away. The facility contains three storage tanks that hold a total capacity of 11,000 gallons of diesel oil. The farm also failed to have an oil spill response plan. Red River Farms and the landowner claimed that the spill was a result of vandalism.

Spill prevention regulations require non-transportation related facilities that store large amounts of oil to have a spill prevention plan that addresses the facility's design, operation, and maintenance procedures to prevent spills from occurring.  The plan must also include countermeasures to control, contain, clean up, and mitigate any effects an oil spill might have on waterways.

EPA Publishes Summary of Diesel Idling Rules

EPA now offers a summary of state and local idling restrictions. The agency has charted the restrictions for the 13 states with statewide restrictions, as well as eight cities and counties with individual regulations. Time limits vary from three minutes for Connecticut, the District of Columbia, New Jersey and New York to two hours for Montana. Some locations offer exemptions, such as during loading and unloading. Philadelphia limits idling to two minutes and permits no idling for layovers. But the city allows five minutes maximum when the temperature is less than 32 degrees and a 20-minute limit when it is less than 20 degrees.

Article at eTrucker.com: http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=41736

EPA Report at: www.epa.gov/orcdizux/retrofit/documents/s03002.pdf

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EPA Teaching Hard “Lessons” to Colleges

Most colleges and universities have their own vehicle fleet and vehicle maintenance shop. EPAs college and university environmental enforcement program not only audits the shops for waste and UST violations, but also the chemistry laboratories. Part of the settlement agreements require that chemistry classes can only use 2 grams of any one chemical in an experiment. The Colleges and Universities Initiative is an ongoing program with additional investigations ongoing. More information on EPA's Voluntary Audit Policy is available at http://www.epa.gov/region02/capp/cip/ . The website for the Colleges and Universities Initiative is http://www.epa.gov/region02/p2/college/ 

FAA Hazmat Warning to Shops

A New Jersey auto dealer was recently warned by the Federal Aviation Administration to train and certify two individuals who handled air bags.  Even though the air bags were correctly labeled and shipped by Federal Express, the two staffers were not properly certified to handle hazmat.  The dealer ceased shipments until the two could complete the necessary requirements for certification.  Dealers should see to it all service staff and parts truck drivers who ship hazmat off-site should receive training and certification, not just parts counter hazmat handlers.  All certification records must be kept on file.  Fines per violation can run up to $30,000. (Source: Automotive Executive) 

EPA PROPOSES $260,000 PENALTY AGAINST ARKANSAS
DISTRIBUTOR FOR UST VIOLATIONS
In August 2003, the U.S. EPA has issued an administrative penalty order complaint against Cecil Dale, Jr., Wholesale Distributor, Inc., proposing a $260,264 penalty for 54 alleged underground storage tank (UST) violations. The violations were from 18 underground storage tanks owned and/or operated by the company, located at five different facilities in Arkansas. EPA cited the company for failure to meet the December 1998 upgrade or closure deadline; failure to provide adequate corrosion protection for piping on new and existing systems; failure to provide adequate release detection for tanks; failure to provide adequate release detection for piping, placing product in an underground tank without registering the UST with the ADEQ, failure to have adequate financial assurance; and failure to meet new tank standards upon installation. Although no releases were observed during the inspection, EPA said maintaining corrosion protection and determining each month whether an underground storage tank system is leaking are important requirements. Also, EPA said the cost of cleanup increases with the duration of an undetected leak, which may be billed to taxpayers.

EPA Fines Costco $16,844 for Not Reporting Forklift Battery Lead and Acid Content

In September 2003, U.S. EPA fined Costco Wholesale Corporation $16,844 for failing to report to the appropriate local and state authorities the amount its Tollson, Ariz,
facility was storing of extremely hazardous chemicals for the year 2000.
The company's cold storage warehouse was storing 18,000 pounds of
liquid ammonia in a closed circuit refrigeration system, and 134,360
pounds of sulfuric acid and 188,535 pounds of lead both contained in
forklift batteries and charging batteries.

The federal emergency planning and community-right-to-know law
requires companies to report amounts of ammonia and sulfuric acid if
they exceed 500 pounds.  The reportable quantity for lead is 10,000
pounds.

The company reported almost a year after the due date.

Federal law requires that the owner or operator of a regulated
facility to annually submit by March 1 a complete hazardous chemical
inventory to the local and state emergency response commission and to
the local fire department when the amount exceeds a specific quantity.

Do They Want a Chemical Analysis for Every Piece of Garbage, Too? 

Virginia Proposed Law to Force Waste-Import Haulers to List Items and Sources http://www.freelancestar.com/News/FLS/2003/062003/06262003/1019627

Four Trucking Firm CEOs Named Dirty Air Villians for Promoting a Delay in 2007 Air Standards http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=118-06302003

Clearing the Air on the Ozone Deception

Excellent article on the foolishness of the new ground-level ozone standard (driving the changes in fuels and emission controls). Actual data shows standard is not needed, and the American Lung Association and EPA ozone data is deceptively inflated. May take a few seconds to open. http://www.rppi.org/clearingtheair.pdf

Outrageously Enviro-Mental

One Account from the book Shattered Dreams

EPA Fight with Couple over Wetlands vs. Cranberry Bogs Devastates couple with $250,000 in legal and consultant fees and EPA threatens $400,000 to $45 Million Fine for Wetlands Violation. Full Story Here. 

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