EPA requires ACS, LLC in Yuma to improve chemical safety

Under the settlement, the company will pay a fine and buy $93,000 worth of emergency response equipment for the Yuma Fire Department.

SAN FRANCISCO – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached an agreement with ACS, LLC regarding chemical safety violations at its facility in Yuma, Arizona. The company will pay a $75,373 civil penalty and spend another $93,000 to purchase emergency response equipment for the Yuma Fire Department. The company uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia for industrial refrigeration, which allows for the storage of locally harvested vegetables in the refrigerator. A 2019 EPA inspection of the facility found serious violations of the Clean Air Act’s risk management program.

“Facilities that store hazardous materials must comply with federal regulations protecting human health and the environment from potentially catastrophic accidents,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Today’s actions demonstrate the EPA’s commitment to enforcing laws that protect the public, including facility personnel, first responders, and members of the surrounding Yuma community.”

The inspection identified process safety and equipment maintenance issues, including a lack of proper hazard analysis, lack of equipment inspection and testing documentation, and inadequate written operating procedures. And coordination with local emergency planning and response organizations. The company also failed to provide adequate reporting of off-season storage of hazardous substances as required by the Emergency Planning and the Public’s Right to Know Act.

As part of the settlement, ACS corrected all identified violations and agreed to complete an additional $93,000 environmental project to procure emergency equipment for the Yuma Fire Department. In particular, the company will procure handheld radios that meet FEMA digital radio standards for national and international public safety agencies.

Proper implementation of risk management programs helps prepare for and prevent chemical releases at facilities that store large volumes of regulated hazardous substances. The company’s industrial refrigeration system uses large amounts of anhydrous ammonia, a highly toxic chemical that is corrosive to the skin, eyes, and lungs.

Thousands of businesses around the country produce, use and store extremely hazardous substances, including anhydrous ammonia. Catastrophic accidents at ammonia refrigeration plants—historically about 150 per year—result in evacuations as well as loss of life, serious injury, and other harm to human health and the environment. The EPA inspected the site as part of the Agency’s National Compliance Initiative to reduce risks to human health and the environment by reducing the likelihood of accidental releases and mitigating the effects of chemical accidents.

Additional environmental projects

An additional environmental project is an environmentally beneficial project or activity that is not required by law, but that a party agrees to undertake as part of an enforcement settlement. Such projects or activities go beyond what the law may require of the defendant and provide environmental and/or public health benefits in addition to those achieved through compliance with the law.

For more information visit EPA Risk management plan requirements under the Clean Air Act And National Compliance Initiative for Reducing Risks of Accidental Emissions from Ammonia Refrigeration Plants webpage.

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