BOSTON – The Providence Metallizing Co. has settled U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allegations of Clean Air Act violations by agreeing to pay a cash fine of $52,700 and complete an environmental project worth at least $96,198, the EPA’s New England Regional Office announced today.
The Pawtucket company’s spray- and dip-coating of plastic, metal and glass – for uses including automobile reflectors, cosmetic packaging and trophy hardware – emits volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are components of smog, the EPA said.
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An EPA investigation found that Providence Metallizing failed to comply with various reporting and work-practice requirements, and on five days in late 2003, failed to keep its thermal oxidizer at or above the minimum temperature required by its permit, the EPA said.
The oxidizer had been necessary to enable the facility to meet VOC emission limits until July 2006, when the company changed the types of coatings it used in some process lines and eliminated others.
For its environmental project, Providence Metallizing will replace a trichloroethylene-based vapor degreaser with an aqueous cleaning system, a change that should eliminate the use of about 7,000 pounds of TCE per year, the EPA said.
For more information about New England clean air regulations and enforcement, visit epa.gov/ne/enforcement/air.
For information about Providence Metallizing Co., visit www.provmet.com.
