United States
Enviromental
Protection Agency
Office of Enforcement
and Compliance
Assurance (2201 A)
EPA325-F-07-002
z) Enforcement Alert
PROf*0 «/
Volume 9, Number 3
Office of Civil Enforcement
December 200 /
EPA Enforcement Reduces Threat from Polyvinyl
Chloride Manufacturing Plants
Settlements with major manufacturers substantially reduce emissions of carcinogen vinyl chloride,
increase compliance
Vinyl chloride (VC), an odorless
gas, is a known human carcinogen also
linked to neurological disorders. To
reduce the total amount of VC entering
the environment, EPA has ramped up
enforcement against the polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) manufacturing industry.
which is responsible for the majority of
our nation's air emissions of VC.
EPA is pursuing enforcement actions
against PVC manufacturers under
both the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act (RCRA). Four recent settlements
demonstrate the significant reductions that
can be achieved by PVC manufacturers.
Together, they have reduced VC air
emissions by approximately 140,000
pounds per year and resolved an array
of alleged violations under the CAA.
RCRA and other environmental laws.
Civil Enforcement Actions
Oxy Vinyls, L.P. - Oxy Vinyls, North
America's largest PVC resin supplier.
agreed in June 2006 to reduce VC air
emissions by over 40,000 pounds per
year. Oxy also paid a $140,000 total
penalty to EPA and the Louisville.
Kentucky Metropolitan Air Pollution
Control District, and a $200,000 penalty
to New Jersey for violations that occurred
only in New Jersey.
Oxy will also spend over $1.2 million to
implement three supplemental environmental
projects (SEPs) to further reduce its VC
emissions. A SEP is an environmentally
beneficial project that a violator agrees
to perform as part of a settlement. Oxy's
SEPs include up-grading a rail car vapor
unloading vacuum system and installing
new stripper trays at a Texas facility.
Formosa Plastics Corporation - In a
May 2005 settlement, Formosa agreed to
resolve violations of six environmental
laws at its Delaware plant, to reduce its
permitted VC emissions by 36,000 pounds
per year, and to eliminate up to 20,000
additional pounds per year through a unique
incentive program. This program requires
the company to meet stringent future
VC reduction goals or, alternatively, pay
stipulated penalties.
Formosa also paid a $450,000 civil penalty
and performed a SEP costing $843,000 that
automates certain manufacturing process
control equipment to enhance VC emission
reductions.
Occidental Chemical Corporation - In
July 2004 Occidental Chemical entered
into an administrative settlement with EPA
resolving alleged violations under multiple
environmental laws at its Pottstown.
Pennsylvania, facility. Occidental agreed to
perform three SEPs -valued at $900,000 -
that include process changes and equipment
up-grades to reduce VC emissions by 52,000
pounds per year and to reduce water usage.
Occidental also paid a $ 150,000 civil penalty.
Criminal Enforcement Action
Keysor-Century Corporation - Keysor-
Century, the only manufacturer of PVC resin
in the western United States, pled guilty
in June 2004 to federal felony charges.
Keysor-Century agreed to pay more than
$4 million in fines and restitution for
violations at its California manufacturing
facility and for lying about its employees'
over-exposure to VC. Keysor-Century also
settled civil violations with multiple state
and federal agencies. The company was
required to stop making PVC.
Common Violations
EPA has identified violations common
to the PVC manufacturing sector, where
compliance has the greatest potential for
environmental and public health benefits.
The most frequent violations fall under
the regulatory requirements for leak
detection and repair, and tanks/surface
impoundments.
Leak Detection and Repair
Under the Clean Air Act, PVC facilities
must develop and implement a Leak
Detection and Repair (LDAR) program
to control 'fugitive' emissions of VC and
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/newsletters/civil/enfalert/index.html
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Enforcement Alert
other hazardous chemicals. Fugitive
emissions result from leaky valves.
pumps, compressors, flanges, connectors
and other piping components. For each
process unit, PVC manufacturers must
routinely monitor for leaks and fix any
leaking equipment, as required by 40
C.F.R §§ 61.65(b)(8), 61.242-7(d) and
(e).
PVC manufacturing facilities may
consist of multiple polymerization
lines. EPA considers each separate
polymerization line to be a process
unit, as defined in 40 C.F.R § 61.241.
Although individual leaks may be small.
cumulatively the number and toxicity of
chemical emissions may have significant
health and environmental consequences.
PVC plants' LDAR programs
consist of several elements, including:
monitoring ambient air, identifying
components to be included in the
LDAR program, conducting routine
monitoring of identified components.
repairing leaking components, reporting
results, and recording the results. These
elements must be described in an
approved facility-wide Leak Detection
and Elimination Plan.
Tanks and Surface Impoundments
Both tanks and surface impoundments
used to hold liquid hazardous wastes
are common at PVC manufacturing
facilities; they are regulated under
Subtitle C of RCRA. Tanks with
structural integrity and that do not leak
can claim an exemption from RCRA
regulation as wastewater treatment
units.
In some situations, PVC manufacturing
facilities have claimed exemptions
from RCRA Subtitle C for treatment of
wastewater. To be eligible, they must
meet certain regulatory requirements.
Tanks Tanks containing hazardous
waste must meet the RCRA Subtitle C
requirements in 40 C.F.R. Part 264. To
prevent tanks from collapsing or leaking.
RCRA requires them to have adequate
foundations, structural support, and
protection from corrosion. A facility
can demonstrate that it is meeting these
requirements through certification by a
registered professional engineer. This is
particularly important for older facilities
located in areas with high ground water
tables where leaks could harm both
public health and the environment.
If a tank meets the wastewater
treatment unit exemption, it is exempt
from Subtitle C requirements. To
claim this exemption, a facility must
demonstrate that: the unit is part of a
wastewater treatment facility regulated
under Clean Water Act § 402 or §
307(b); it receives and treats or stores a
hazardous influent wastewater or sludge;
and it meets the definition of a tank or
tank system in 40 C.F.R. § 260.10 (i.e.,
a stationary device designed to contain
an accumulation of hazardous waste that
is constructed primarily of non-earthen
materials such as wood, concrete, steel
or plastic, which provide structural
support).
Surface impoundments A surface
impoundment is a natural topographic
depression, a man-made excavation
or a diked area formed primarily of
earthen materials (although it must be
lined with man-made materials) that is
designed to hold liquid wastes. 40 C.F.R.
§260.10.
Holding ponds, storage pits and
settling lagoons are examples of surface
impoundments. If an in-ground tank.
when evaluated as if it were free-
standing and filled to design capacity
with the material it is intended to hold, is
not capable of maintaining its structural
integrity, it can be considered a surface
impoundment.
If a facility utilizes surface
impoundments for its wastewater, it must
make a hazardous waste determination
at the point where materials enter
the impoundment. An impoundment
that receives hazardous waste is
subject to RCRA Subtitle C regulation.
Impoundments that generate hazardous
waste sludge are also subject to the
requirements of RCRA Subtitle C.
Other Violations
Although the most common PVC
violations occur under the CAA and
RCRA, PVC facility emissions and
wastes are also regulated under at least
three other environmental laws: the
Clean Water Act (40 C.F.R. § 414.111),
the Comprehensive Environmental
Response, Compensation, and Recovery
Act (40 C.F.R. § 302), and the Emergency
Planning and Community Right-to-
Know Act (40 C.F.R. § 372.65).
Health and Environmental
Impacts of Vinyl Chloride
EPA has classified VC as a known
human carcinogen. VC releases to
the air, water or soil can cause cancer
of the liver after prolonged inhalation
or oral exposure. VC also helps form
ground-level ozone, which adversely
affects breathing and interferes with
photosynthesis in plants. For more
information on the health effects of VC.
visit EPA's air toxics web site at: http://
www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/vinylchl.
html.
VC emissions can cause catastrophic
accidents. In April 2004, discharged VC
liquid and vapor caused an explosion at
a Formosa Plastics Corporation PVC
plant, resulting in the deaths of five
workers and serious injuries to three
others. About 150 people in the small
community of Illiopolis, Illinois, were
Disclaimer: This document attempl
plain language some EPA provisions. Nothing
in the Enforcement Alert revised or replaces
any regulatory provision in the cited part, any
other part of the Code of Federal Regulations,
the Federal Register, or the Clean Air Act or
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
For more information go to: www.epa.gov/
compliance
December 2007
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Enforcement Alert
(continued from page 2)
evacuated and the facility has since closed.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board concluded that the
accident occurred when an operator overrode a critical valve safety interlock on a
pressurized vessel that was in the process of making PVC.
The Board found that the company had underestimated the importance of implementing
rigorous safeguards to prevent this from occurring, despite reports of numerous similar
incidents in the industry, including some at the same company's facilities. Investigation
Report: Vinyl Chloride Monomer Explosion-Formosa Plastics Corp., Chemical Safety
Board Report No. 2004-10-I-IL (March 2007). For more information on the Formosa
Plastics explosion and to view a safety video, go to www.csb.gov.
Explosion at a Formosa Plastics
Corporation PVC Plant
Facility Process Changes Can Reduce Vinyl Chloride Emissions
Enhance unloading operations through use of a railcar vapor unloading vacuum system to capture emissions.
Replace ambient cooling systems with refrigeration to produce consistent polymerization and avoid seasonal variations.
Improve stripping efficiency in columns and reactors. The VC removed by improving efficiencies can be recycled back
into the process rather than lost through air emissions in the PVC dryers.
Minimize open conveyances and treatment units that facilitate volatilization of vinyl chloride into the environment.
Strip off-spec materials to the lowest Residual Vinyl Chloride Monomer possible.
Enhance piping systems by using seamless and dual mechanical seal pumps, diaphragm valves for gas and liquids, and
sampling connection systems with closed purge lines.
Minimize off-spec solids production and manage such solids to prevent PVC from entering the wastewater system.
Automate process controls to minimize operator error and production variables.
Integrate safety and environmental controls into a Distributive Control System.
Improve tracking and use of ambient air monitoring data to locate and eliminate leaks.
Enhance Leak Detection and Repair programs, e.g., lower leak definitions and more frequent monitoring.
PVC Manufacturing Vessels
Photograph and graphic courtesy of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board
December 2007
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Enforcement Alert
Key Regulatory Provisions Related to
PVC Manufacturing
RCRA
0.2 mg/L TCLP Limit
40 CFR 261.24(b)
CM
10 PPM Wastewater Limit
40 CFR 61.65(b)(9)(i)
CERCLA
1 Pound/24 Hours
40 CFR 302
CWA
172 |jg/IMax. Daily
97 |jg/l max. Monthly Avg.
40 CFR 414.111
EPCRA TRI
25,000 Pounds
Manufactured or Processed
40 CFR 372.65
RCRA - Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. § 6901,
et seq.
CAA - Clean Air Act, U.S.C. 42 U.S.C. § 7401, et seq.
CWA - Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. § 1251, et seq.
CERCLA - Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation,
and Liability Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9601, et seq.
EPCRA - Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act,
42 U.S.C. § \\Q\,etseq.
TRI - Toxics Release Inventory, 42 U.S.C. § 4245, et seq.
&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Civil Enforcement
(2241 A)
Washington, D.C. 20460
Official Business
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Enforcement Alert
Enforcement Alert is published
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Enforcement, to inform the public
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environmental enforcement issues,
trends and significant enforcement
This information should help the
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Director, Office of Civil Enforcement:
Walker B. Smith
Editor, Office of Civil Enforcement:
Melissa Page Marshall
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Document Number: EPA 325-F-07-002
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December 2007
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