Dive summary:
- EBV Explosives Environmental Co., a Joplin, Mo. based incinerator, has been fined $580,135 for violating the federal Clean Air Act.
- The biggest pollutants from the facility are hydrogen chloride and chlorine gas emissions, which the plant has to reduce by 200,000 pounds annually as well as reduce particulate emissions by 1,240 pounds a year.
- EBV is a hazardous waste incinerator that has been a keystone of community controversy for decades because they deal with outdated military munitions, fuses, detonators, and pharmaceutical materials containing nitroglycerine.
From the article:
Violations at the plant included operation of a “thermal treatment unit” without obtaining a valid permit; exceeding permitted emission limits for dioxins, hydrogen chloride, chlorine gas and particulate matter; and failing to operate monitors used to verify compliance with the permit.
The agreement, effective on Monday, was announced Wednesday by the EPA, which cited alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
EBV in February 2011 notified the EPA that stack tests conducted in October 2010 showed that hydrogen chloride emissions at the plant were above permitted levels. ...
