Central California company reports, corrects environmental violations

(SAN FRANCISCO) - The E.P.A. recently reached a $34,050 settlement with an Escalon, Calif., company for failing to submit toxic chemical reports for its 2 manufacturing facilities, a violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Hogan Manufacturing, Inc., a steel products manufacturer, failed to submit timely, complete and correct forms to the E.P.A. and the state for the amounts of chromium and nickel processed at its 19527 S. McHenry Ave. and 1704 Coley Saint facilities in 2004, 2005, and 2006. The company voluntarily disclosed the 9 violations to the E.P.A. within 21 days and promptly corrected them within 60 days.

"Facilities that use toxic chemicals must provide complete and accurate information about them so that area residents and emergency response personnel are informed of possible chemical hazards in the community," said Enrique Manzanilla, Communities and Ecosystems director for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region.

Under the EPA's Audit Policy promoting self-disclosure, the agency may reduce penalties up to 100 percent for violations that are voluntarily discovered, promptly disclosed to the Agency, and quickly corrected. Based on the company meeting all of the Audit Policy requirements except one, the total civil penalty was reduced by 75% from $136,200 to $34,050.

Each year the E.P.A. compiles the information submitted to it from the previous year regarding toxic chemical releases, and produces a national Toxics Release Inventory database for public availability. The database estimates the amounts of each toxic chemical released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management, and also provides a trend analysis of toxic chemical releases.

For more information on the TRI program, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/tri. The U.S. EPA's environmental databases, including the TRI data, can be accessed at: http://www.epa.gov/enviro.

Follow the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest region on Twitter: http://twitter.com/EPAregion9 and join the LinkedIn group: http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/1823773/

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