EPA Touts New York Coke Plant Settlement As Enforcement Model

摘要

EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are touting a proposed consent decree remedying alleged Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, and other environmental law violations at a New York state coke plant as a model for imposing advanced environmental monitoring and reporting requirements at other facilities nationwide. On a May 11 press call announcing the proposed $12 million settlement with the Tonawanda Coke facility in Tonawanda, NY, EPA Region 2 Administrator Judith Enck and DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources John Cruden said the agreement sets a standard for remedies in other enforcement actions. See page 2 for details. (Doc. ID: 181307) Specifically, the officials singled out as elements of the pact that could be "exported" to other enforcement actions new requirements for new monitoring technologies, such as leak monitoring and continuous opacity monitoring for the facility's air emissions; and new requirements for auditing and public disclosure of pollution data.