Richard Cordray (D)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (Legal Newsline) - Ohio Attorney General Richard
Cordray has reached a settlement with a northeast Ohio metal finishing
company over allegations of being a major source of air contaminants.
Spectrum Metal Finishing Inc. of Youngstown, Ohio, without proper
permits, had installed and operated a major source of air
contaminants, Cordray alleged.
Under the consent order, approved by the Mahoning County Court of
Common Pleas, Spectrum will install additional pollution control
equipment as well as pay a $420,000 civil penalty.
In 2000, Spectrum, which coats aluminum and steel items used in the
architectural industry, constructed a new coating line. This coating
line did not implement the proper control technology and Spectrum did
not obtain the necessary permits in violation of Ohio's air pollution
control laws.
Spectrum also failed to renew its Title V air permit in a timely
fashion or submit compliance certifications and fee emissions reports.
The company, under terms of the consent order, is allowed to offset
$320,000 of the civil penalty towards purchasing and installing a
regenerative thermal oxidizer and agreeing to assume significant
emissions reductions as a permit restriction.
The oxidizer, estimated to cost $1.4 million, will capture and control
the company's coating line's emissions, resulting in a substantial
reduction in air contaminants and odors that leave the facility.
Of the remaining portion of Spectrum's civil penalty, $20,000 will be
used to support the Ohio EPA's Clean Diesel School Bus Program,
$40,000 will go to the Ohio Environmental Education Fund and $40,000
will go to state and local air pollution control programs.