Lemont Plant Says Name on EPA Violation List Was an Error

A company says its placement on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s internal Clean Air Act watch list was “an error.”

Oxbow Midwest Calcining is one of 464 facilities on the agency’s list, which was not made public until November. The July and September versions of the report were obtained by the Center for Public Integrity’s iWatch News and National Public Radio through a Freedom of Information Act request, according to a report.

The EPA uses the list to keep track of "recidivist and chronically noncomplying facilities whose violations have not been formally addressed by either the state or the EPA," the agency said in a 2008 report.

According to iWatch News, the list comprises facilities "that the EPA determines have not been subject to a state or federal enforcement action within 270 days, or nine months, of the discovery of a Clean Air Act violation." Facilities on the list may have violated any of a number of rules, such as obtaining a permit or releasing too much hazardous waste.

Additionally, iWatch News reports that the document has been kept from the public out of fear that it would be viewed as a "most-wanted listed."

Oxbow is one of 43 facilities in Illinois to make the list. The reasons for each facility's inclusion on the list were deleted from the lists provided by the EPA, according to iWatch News.

However, plant manager Brett Wiltshire said in a statement to Lemont Patch that he believes the list could be comprised of “Illinois companies that received notices of alleged violation, regardless of whether the allegations were correct, incorrect or resolved to the satisfaction of the U.S. EPA.”

Company officials believe Oxbow has been included on the list because of two past notices issued, one in May 2009 and another in May 2010, which alleged that years ago the prior owner of the Lemont plant had repaired or replaced equipment without obtaining a permit.

At the time, Oxbow officials told the U.S. EPA the equipment did not increase air emissions, thus no permit was required for the maintenance.

“More than two years have lapsed since the first notice of alleged violation and more than a year and a half have elapsed since the second notice of alleged violation, and the company has not received any further inquiry from U.S. EPA,” Wiltshire said. “To the best of the company’s knowledge, U.S. EPA has terminated its investigation into the alleged violations after it became satisfied that the company had not violated the law.”

According to the EPA’s website, being on the list does not mean that the facility has actually violated the law only that an investigation by EPA or a state or local environmental agency has led those organizations to allege that an unproven violation has in fact occurred.

Instead, EPA officials said those listed indicates cases requiring additional dialogue between EPA, state and local agencies—primarily because of the length of time the alleged violation has gone unaddressed or unresolved.

Wiltshire said Oxbow goes to “great lengths to abide by all state and federal environmental regulations and has cooperated fully with the Environmental Protection Agency in resolving this issue.”

For more on the EPA's internal watch list, visit iwatchnews.org.