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Department of Ecology News Release - June 14, 2001
01-098
SPOKANE - Part of the money from two large penalties issued last year by the Department of Ecology (Ecology) against Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation's Mead plant is going to pay for air quality benefits in the Spokane area.
Kaiser and Ecology have reached a settlement agreement over two fines, totaling $408,000, that were issued in June and September 2000 because of excess emissions of fluoride and small particles (dust and soot).
The settlement calls for Kaiser to pay $150,000 of the fine to Ecology and $125,000 to the Spokane County Air Pollution Control Authority to help low-income drivers pay for car repairs to reduce carbon-monoxide emissions. The fund will enable low-income people to get their emissions systems repaired if their cars fail mandatory emission tests given at Spokane's two vehicle-emission test centers.
The Ecology portion goes to the state's general fund.
"When we issue a penalty, we are trying to change behavior," said Cullen Stephenson, who manages the Ecology division that regulates the Mead plant. "This settlement goes a step further, using a portion of the money to actually improve the environment.
"We are pleased that Kaiser has already made some operational changes to remedy the causes of this violation," he said. Stephenson added that Kaiser made the changes even before the energy shutdown.
The fines were reduced because the statute of limitations had passed for some elements of Ecology's complaints against Kaiser. However, Kaiser has agreed to make changes at the Mead plant to ensure the plant's air emissions will not exceed the limits identified in its air quality permit when the plant begins to operate again.
Ecology issued a $388,000 penalty to Kaiser in September 2000 for four years of poorly operating and maintaining its air-pollution control equipment. According to Ecology inspectors, operation changes in 1995 resulted in excess emissions of fluoride and particulate matter from the pot rooms where the aluminum smelting process takes place.
A $20,000 penalty was issued earlier in the year because the company made the operational changes at the plant without getting the appropriate air-quality permits. State law requires that any project that could potentially increase air emissions must have a "notice of construction" permit. Kaiser officials failed to apply for that permit.
Kaiser appealed the fines to the state's Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB). The current settlement was signed by PCHB Presiding Judge Robert Jensen on June 5.
Contact: Jani Gilbert, public information manager, 509-456-4464; pager, 509-622-1289
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
