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U.S. EPA settles air quality violations with Palmdale aluminum company: Company agrees to pay $48,000 in penalties

Release Date: 06/19/2008
Contact Information: David Yogi, 415/972-3653, [email protected]

LOS ANGELES – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently reached a $48,000 settlement with U.S. Pole Company, Inc. for allegedly violating Clean Air Act standards at its Palmdale plant.

U.S. Pole, an outdoor lighting fixture manufacturer, failed to submit a test plan and test air emissions from its aluminum foundry, located at 660 W. Ave. O, for dioxins and furans, two hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

“It is important to keep hazardous air pollutants out of the air we breathe,” said Deborah Jordan, the EPA’s Air Division director for the Pacific Southwest region. “Through enforcement and corporate involvement, we can help communities get the clean air they deserve.”

As part of the settlement, U.S. Pole modified its operations and operating permit with the Antelope Valley Air Quality Management District to ensure scrap aluminum charged in the facility’s furnaces would not contain paints, coatings, and lubricants, and conducted subsequent tests to demonstrate dioxin and furan emissions complied with federal regulations.

Under the Clean Air Act, the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants for Secondary Aluminum Production requires that a test plan for dioxin and furan be submitted to and approved by the EPA before testing can begin. Performance tests must be conducted to demonstrate it complies with emission standards.

The case was based on EPA inspections of the facility in 2006.

For more information on the Clean Air Act, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/air/caa/peg/