[미국] Archer Daniels, 수질 오염 방지법 위반

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) 사가 5개 오일 저장 시설의 수질 오염 방지법 위반 사실을 인정했다고 밝혔다. 환경보호국의 Region 7 합의에 따라서 회사는 43만 달러의 벌금을 내야한다.

수질 오염 방지법은 대규모 기름 저장 시설들에게 기름 누출을 다루기 위한 대응 계획을 개발하도록 요구한다. 준비와 대응계획을 요구함으로써 시설이 오염누출 같은 환경오염을 예방하는 방법을 고려하도록 한다. 5개의 ADM 시설은 각각 100만 갤런의 기름을 생산하고 저장,5개 시설은 전체적으로 3천600만 갤런을 저장하고 있다고 평가된다.

ADM은 수질 오염 방지법을 준수하겠다는 합의서를 작성하고 43만달러의 벌금을 부과한다. 합의서는 FRP 프로그램 실행 보고서와 언급된 시설의 적용 가능한 산업 우수 허가증을 3년 동안 요구한다.

Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), a major food processing and commodities trading company headquartered in Decatur, Ill., has agreed to settle allegations of Clean Water Act (CWA) violations at five different large oil storage facilities in the cities of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Columbus, Neb.; Des Moines, Iowa; Mexico, Mo.; and Deerfield, Mo. Through the settlement with EPA Region 7, the company will also pay a civil penalty of $430,000 to the United States.

The CWA requires facilities that store large quantities of oil to develop response plans that outline procedures for addressing "worst-case" discharges of oil. By being prepared and by conducting required response drills, facilities are better situated to prevent environmental harm from such releases. Each of the five ADM facilities produces and stores more than 1 million gallons of oil. Combined, the five facilities have a total estimated storage capacity of more than 36 million gallons.

EPA identified the lack of a response plan during a Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) inspection in 2008 at ADM's Cedar Rapids, Iowa, facility. The plant required a Facility Response Plan (FRP) because the storage capacity of its denatured ethanol tanks exceeded one million gallons. ADM committed to develop and submit an FRP but failed to do so for the Cedar Rapids facility and three additional facilities until almost two years later in 2010. ADM's Deerfield, Mo., facility also operated for a period in 2011 and 2012 without a required updated FRP.

The settlement resolves these violations by ADM of the FRP requirements of the CWA. It also resolves violations of the industrial stormwater requirements of three CWA operating permits issued to ADM for the Cedar Rapids, Columbus and Deerfield facilities. The violations included ADM's failure to implement best management practices (BMPs) at its facilities, failure to conduct and record site inspections, exceedances of permitted effluent limits, and unauthorized discharges of non-stormwater to U.S. waters in violation of the facilities' CWA permits.

In addition to the payment of the $430,000 penalty, in order to document future compliance with the CWA, the settlement requires that ADM report on the implementation of the FRP program and the applicable industrial stormwater permits at the referenced facilities for three years.

[출처 = Water World / 2014년 7월 30일]