Trialco reaches settlement with EPA over late testing at local plant

by Nicole Duarte

published in the Daily Southtown, February 22, 2006

Trialco Inc. will complete two voluntary air pollution-related projects as part of a $446,000 settlement reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after the company was cited for late completion of mandatory testing at its Chicago Heights aluminum recovery plant.

Trialco agreed to invest $400,000 in equipment to reduce combustion-related emissions byproducts by at least one-third, with a target of a one-half reduction by Mar.31, 2007.

Also, Trialco must complete by May 31, 2007 a series of tests to prove that treating industrial-process emissions with ammonia gas will neutralize hydrogen chloride. Trialco President Jay Armstrong said the company was already using ammonia gas injections, which it found substantially decreased hydrogen chloride emissions.

Under the settlement agreement, the company will record the ammonia injection results according to EPA methodologies, and test for an expected, associated decrease in dioxins. Dioxins are carcinogenic by-products of industrial processes involving chlorine.

Armstrong said that at no time was the company in violation of any pollution regulation, pointing out that it was cited for late testing.

As a result of Trialco's good compliance history and its agreement to take on the two "supplemental environmental projects," the EPA dropped the proposed penalty from $165,746 to $20,000.

A company in violation of EPA regulations can voluntarily complete a supplementary environmental project (SEP) to offset the penalty, said Bonnie Bush, an EPA environmental engineer familiar with the Trialco case. An SEP allows the company to complete a project that will have a "positive impact on the environment rather than just paying cash to the U.S. Treasury," said Bush.

She added, "We have no reason to believe the company was ever in violation of emissions standards."