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COPYRIGHT 2006 Aspen Publishers, Inc.
In a March 7, 2006 decision, an EPA administrative law judge (ALJ) assessed a penalty of $151,800 against a commercial polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) storage and disposal facility in Wheeling, West Virginia. The company was found liable for violating federal PCB regulations designed to protect public health and the environment (In the matter of: Environmental Protection Services, Inc., Docket Number: TSCA-03-2001-0331).
Background on PCBs
PCBs are nonflammable liquids that are highly resistant to electrical current, and were used to store electrical charge in transformers and capacitors beginning in the 1920s. They were also used as plasticizers, adhesives, and textile coatings.
However, PCBs were found to be a toxic substance and a probable human carcinogen. Further, PCBs are extremely persistent in the environment and bioaccumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. In 1976, Congress enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Under TSCA, PCBs were singled out for special attention, due to their widespread and toxic nature, and TSCA regulates the manufacture, use, and disposal of PCBs. Specifically, TSCA Section 6(e) established a scheme to limit the use of PCBs, and to dispose PCBs, while phasing out their manufacture, processing, and distribution. In response, EPA promulgated federal PCB regulations at 40 CFR Part 761 in 1999.
Site History
Beginning in 1989, Environmental Protection Services, Inc. (EPS) operated an electrical equipment storage and disposal facility in Wheeling, West Virginia. The majority of the company's business involved non-PCB material. However, EPS also received PCB transformers and capacitors for disposal, mostly from the utility industry. Electrical equipment with a PCB concentration <500 ppm could be disposed onsite, while materials with higher concentrations had to be sent offsite to an EPA-approved TSCA disposal site.
In a company brochure, EPS stated, "EPS provides a fully documented 'Cradle-to Grave' disposal process." All material received a six-digit barcode identifier tag for tracking purposes when loaded on an EPS truck at a customer's site. The bar code was used to track the equipment electronically for "permanent record keeping."
In December 1992, EPS applied to EPA for a TSCA PCB commercial storage approval. The application included EPS' proposed maximum storage capacities (MSCs) for PCB wastes, a facility closure plan, and a financial assurance mechanism to provide for adequate funding for environmentally sound closure of the facility. TSCA closure means that "... all contamination and all hazardous and toxic substances are removed from the facility."
On November 10, 1993, EPA Region 3 issued a TSCA PCB commercial storage approval to EPS. The approval was set to expire October 1, 1998.
In EPS' renewal application, the company stated that work practices, operations, and other procedures had not changed from the original permit. On September 29, 1998, the renewal request was approved until October 1, 2003. The new approval set an MSC of 5,000 lbs for PCB transformers and 1,000 lbs for PCB capacitors. The EPS facility also had an air pollution control permit from the state of West Virginia, Division of Environmental Protection to burn PCB-contaminated waste in a scrap metal...
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