ALBANY, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - A settlement reached with Guardian Industries resolves alleged violations of the federal Clean Air Act at the company’s glass manufacturing facilities nationwide, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said.
The complaints were filed by the state of New York in partnership with Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Marc Gerstman, the Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Iowa and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
Complaints against Guardian included allegations of modifications to furnaces without obtaining required permits or installing pollution control technologies on the furnaces.
Guardian has seven float glass facilities nationwide, including one in Geneva, N.Y.
“New Yorkers’ health, environment and economy depend on clean air,” Schneiderman said. “This settlement will ensure that the Guardian facility in Geneva operates in full compliance with air pollution laws. It will also significantly cut emissions from the facility, providing a breath of fresh air to New Yorkers living in the Finger Lakes region.”
Under the settlement, Guardian will pay $312,000 in penalties and be required install the required pollution control technologies and meet emission limits.
According to the Department of Environmental Conservation, at the Geneva facility alone, this will result in reductions of emissions of soot, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and sulfuric acid by approximately 50 percent.