BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to levy fines of $635,020 against two Rhode Island companies it accuses of state and federal Clean Air violations.
• The first company is shipbuilder Senesco Marine LLC of North Kingstown, which faces a proposed fine of $378,700.
The EPA’s New England office in Boston accuses Senesco of violating air-quality requirements for shipbuilding and repair facilities – outlined in the National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) – “by failing to submit notifications and reports, by failing to keep records and by using paints with hazardous air-pollutant contents greater than the allowable limits,” the agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
Senesco also is accused of violating the federal Clean Air Act, by failing to apply for a Title V operating permit “despite having potential xylene emissions greater than 10 tons per year,” and of failing to comply with the R.I. State Implementation Plan for air quality “by failing to apply for a new source-review permit before commencing construction of its facility.”
“The EPA violations identified were from the South Eastern New England Shipbuilding Co.,” Senesco management said in an e-mail responding to Providence Business News’ request for comment. “Since October 2006, the new company – Senesco Marine LLC – has a professional staff that has worked with the State and US Environmental Protection Agency so that its operations are within regulatory compliance.”
The EPA conceded in its statement that, since it brought the alleged violations to the company’s attention, “Senesco has obtained the new source review permit from R.I. Department of Environmental Management (DEM) and has submitted a Title V application.”
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• The second company cited is Bilray Demolition Co. Inc. of Johnston, which faces $256,320 in proposed fines for alleged Clean Air Act and asbestos violations during its demolition of the former Seaboard Foundry Inc. facility in Johnston.
Bilray demolished the former foundry in 2004 and 2005, after a fire at the site, the EPA noted in a separate statement, adding: “When the R.I. Department of Health inspected the facility during the demolition, it found asbestos-containing materials.”
The federal agency alleges that Bilray violated the requirements of the National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Asbestos (Asbestos NESHAP). The company, it writes, “failed to thoroughly inspect for asbestos prior to demolishing the facility; failed to provide EPA with prior written notification of its intent to demolish; failed to adequately wet asbestos during its stripping operations; failed to keep asbestos adequately wet until it was collected and contained for disposal; and failed to properly dispose of asbestos waste.”
Bilray thereby endangered the health of neighbors of the site, and employees conducting the demolition, “who could have been exposed to asbestos fibers during these activities,” the EPA contends
But Bilray co-owner David Santanelli countered that, under his company’s contract with Seaboard, any asbestos found during the demolition was the foundry owner’s responsibility.
An initial site inspection found no signs of asbestos, he added. “Towards the end of the project, we came by small amounts of asbestos paneling,” Santanelli said. At that time, “we stopped work immediately and reported this to the owner.
“We did try to get a consultant out to test it and make sure it was asbestos,” he said. “We had to wait until the weather cleared up and snow was off the ground. So I’m being allegedly fined from the day when there was a blizzard to when the snow was cleared up.”
After the paneling was identified as asbestos, it was “back and forth … until finally the state Health Department stepped in and said, ‘OK, let’s get an abatement plan together,’” Santanelli said.
“Even at that point, the contract clearly stated that asbestos was not our responsibility,” he said, adding: “There’s nothing we can do on someone’s private property unless the owner gives us permission.”
In September 2005, “Bilray removed 81 cubic feet of regulated asbestos-containing material,” according to the EPA.
“I do have proper manifests showing I had abated it properly,” Santanelli said. Asked whether he intended to challenge the complaint, he replied: “Yes, I will.”
For additional news and information from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s New England (Region 1) office in Boston, visit www.epa.gov/region1. To learn more about EPA clean-air enforcement in New England, visit www.epa.gov/ne/enforcement/air; to learn about asbestos regulations, visitwww.epa.gov/asbestos.
