PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced June 23 that Messer LLC has agreed to pay a $1.9 million civil penalty for Clean Water Act permit violations at its air products manufacturing facility in New Cumberland, West Virginia.
Along with the financial penalty, Messer has agreed to take actions to eliminate ongoing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit violations and prevent future violations. This includes constructing a new treatment system at the facility and conducting enhanced stormwater discharge inspections to ensure compliance with the Clean Water Act and parallel West Virginia laws. The facility exceeded permit limits for copper, aluminum, residual chlorine, phenolics and iron.
The penalty will be divided equally between the United States and West Virginia, who are co-plaintiffs in this consent decree. The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection assisted EPA in the investigation, litigation and settlement. The settlement addresses alleged federal and state environmental law violations, which threaten to degrade receiving streams and impact public health and harm aquatic life and the environment.
The facility is bordered by the Ohio River and discharges into the river. The proposed consent decree, filed in the federal district court for the Northern District of West Virginia, is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal district court.
A copy of the consent decree with more specifics about the violations is available online at: justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/us-et-al-v-messer-llc.
