NEW JERSEY, US: DuPont and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have reached an agreement under which DuPont will pay a $725,000 fine and update hazardous materials (hazmat) handling procedures at a facility in New Jersey. The agreement reached through an administrative consent order, stems from investigations of incidents between 2009 and the present of spills and handling problems at the plant, its hazardous waste disposal landfill, drum and container storage areas, a rail siding, and its industrial wastewater treatment plant.
A DuPont spokeswoman said many of the infractions at the 1,455-acre site on the Delaware River involved minor leaks and spills, or record keeping and labeling problems. The DEP said the consent order contains a compliance schedule requiring DuPont to evaluate and improve, site-wide and area specific procedures relating to the storage, identification and accumulation of waste, provide a list of actions to be undertaken to prevent spills and discharges, remove waste from the wastewater holding tank; perform upgrades to the landfill, characterize, remove and dispose all waste rail cars from the siding area and upgrade rail car management.
In 2006, DuPont agreed to upgrade equipment and pay a $105,000 fine as a result of DEP investigation that logged more than 220 incidents of spills and discharges. Discharges occurred as a result of faulty or inoperable pumps, leaking valves and gaskets, valves inadvertently left open, cracks in containment structures and accidents. The upgrades worked as intended, but problems started arising again in mid 2008, according to the DEP. The consent order addresses more than 60 violations resulting from subsequent DEP inspections of the facility, according to the state agency.
© WOC News