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EPA Issues Compliance Order to PSC Industrial Outsourcing, Inc. of Houston

Release Date: 11/07/2007
Contact Information: Dave Bary or Tressa Tillman at 214-665-2200 or [email protected]

(Dallas, Texas – November 7, 2007) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a compliance order to PSC Industrial Outsourcing, Inc. of Houston, Texas, for violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The order also requires PSC Industrial Outsourcing, Inc. to fund a $100,000 Small Scale Chemistry environmental project in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

On March 3, 2007, PSC employees removed approximately 1,700 gallons of oil from an electrical transformer which contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in concentrations of 18 parts per million. The oil was inadvertently pumped into a tank containing approximately 1.5 million gallons of slop oil and 714,000 gallons of water. Federal regulations specifically prohibit the dilution of PCBs, and PSC has implemented corrective action to prevent any future occurrences.

“We are committed to enforcing the laws that protect public health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Richard E. Greene. “When companies fail to follow the rules, we will take action to ensure compliance with the law.”

PSC has agreed to fund an environmental project to reduce, manage, and prevent chemical hazards at schools in Lake Charles, Louisiana. This environmental project, phased in over a period of 18 months, will include workshops and meetings with school administrators and school staff to implement and manage Small Scale Chemistry at the classroom level.

Teachers will be supplied with a Chemical Inventory Management Spreadsheet developed by the Safety Council of Louisiana Capital Area as a means of inventorying chemicals in school laboratories. Instruction manuals and lab exercises will be provided to teachers receiving Small Scale Chemistry workshop training. The last phase of the project includes working with schools to remove overstocked and unwanted chemicals and ensure their proper disposal.