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Connecticut Holding Company Faces Fines for PCB Violations

Release Date: 09/22/2009
Contact Information: Paula Ballentine, 617-918-1027

(Boston, Mass. – September 22, 2009) - The owner of an inoperative Bridgeport, Conn. brass facility faces a penalty of up to $37,500 per day per violation for violating federal regulations covering the disposal, use, storage, and marking violations of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

The Fairfield-based Connecticut Transfer Company (CTC) owns the former Bridgeport Brass Company (BBC) facility at 560 North Washington Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 2008, CTC hired a waste transporter to pump out waste oil from an electrical transformer and two 55-gallon drums located at the facility. CTC’s waste oil was mixed with waste oil from other companies by the waste transporter and sent for recycling an oil disposal and recycling company in New York, called the Norlite Corporation. Norlite discovered that the combined shipment of waste oil contained a high concentration of PCBs and rejected the shipment, as it was not permitted to reuse waste oil containing PCBs. Norlite then notified the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NY DEC). After tracking down the origins of the shipment, NY DEC notified the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (CT DEP) of the attempted delivery of PCB-contaminated oil to Norlite.

Bridgeport United Recycling Corp. (BUR), the company hired by CTC to pick up and deliver the oil to the Norlite facility, reported to CT DEP that it believed that the source of the contaminated oil came from 883 gallons of waste oil that it had picked up from the BBC facility.

This information prompted CT DEP to inspect the BBC facility for compliance with TSCA and PCB regulations. The inspection revealed several federal violations, including the improper disposal of PCBs via two spilled or leaking transformers; and failure to comply with various use, storage and marking requirements by not labeling a PCB transformer, not labeling PCB storage areas and not meeting various PCB storage and dating requirements.

CTC is currently developing a PCB cleanup plan to remedy these violations and come into compliance with TSCA and PCB requirements.

PCBs are persistent in the environment and are suspected carcinogens. Exposure to PCBs can cause liver problems and skin rashes.

More information:
Appropriate ways to manage PCBs (epa.gov/region01/enforcement/tsca/index.html#pcb)
Basic information on PCBs (epa.gov/pcb)

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