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EPA, ADEQ FINE OUTDOOR FURNITURE MAKER $200,000

Release Date: 6/14/2002
Contact Information: Leo Kay, U.S. EPA, 415/947-4306

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S Department of Justice, and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality fined Meadowcraft, Inc. $200,000 for air and water violations at its Yuma County manufacturing facility in Somerton, Ariz.  

     The EPA and the ADEQ each fined the company $75,000 to resolve Clean Air Act violations of the air permitting program at the company's now defunct Somerton facility.  Meadowcraft failed to apply for an air quality permit to regulate the facility's emissions prior to construction in September 1997 and continued to operate the facility without a permit until the facility was closed in the summer of 2001.

    Meadowcraft produces outdoor furniture and is the largest manufacturer of outdoor wrought iron furniture in the United States. Wrought iron furniture coating operations emit volatile organic compounds, which are precursors to ozone, or smog, formation.  Air quality permits regulate volatile organic compounds and hazardous air pollutant emissions.

     "This penalty sends a clear signal to polluters that the state of Arizona and the federal government are committed to protect the public health and environment," said Jack Broadbent, director of EPA's regional air division.  "Facilities should know that before they start operating they need to obtain an air permit."

     The ADEQ cited Meadowcraft $50,000 for failing to get a proper water quality protection permit.    
     
     The company still operates several manufacturing and distribution facilities in Alabama.