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Minor Environmental Violation Leads To Big Hazmat Donation To Oak Hill and Green County; EPA Policy Allows Stiefel Laboratories to Make Environmental Contribution

Release Date: 07/27/1999
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(#99122) New York, N.Y. -- In a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of a minor environmental violation, Oak Hill-based Stiefel Laboratories will pay for several important projects that will help local and state officials better protect the environment and the health of residents. The improvements are supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), made possible through an innovative EPA penalty settlement policy.

Stiefel Laboratories, located on Route 45 in Oak Hill, employs 225 people and has manufactured pharmaceutical preparations and medicated soaps since 1944. The company will spend approximately $25,000 to provide important hazardous materials training and emergency preparedness to firefighters and other officials in Oak Hill and Greene County, which are home to several rail lines and the New York State Thruway -- major arteries in the transportation of hazardous substances through the state. Stiefel Laboratories will also pay a monetary penalty of $8,820 to EPA for its violation.

"EPA’s policy of allowing some companies to undertake environmental projects as part of a settlement has, in this case, really worked in favor of the community," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Administrator for Region 2. "We are pleased that Stiefel Laboratories was eager to work with community officials to determine which projects would best meet local environmental needs, and we agree that a strengthened hazardous materials program is an excellent idea."

Stiefel Laboratories had failed to report Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data for benzoyl peroxide, a common chemical that the company uses to manufacture skin creams. Companies like Stiefel that manufacture, process, import or otherwise use such chemicals must submit annual TRI forms to EPA providing detailed information about every chemical. This information is compiled annually into a Toxic Release Inventory report, and is released to the public to help Americans know more about the chemicals present in their local environment. An EPA inspection of the Stiefel facility in December 1997 revealed that the company failed to submit complete and correct forms for benzoyl peroxide from 1994 to 1996, although the company had filed correct forms for all other chemicals.

Stiefel Laboratories voluntarily agreed to undertake the following supplemental environmental projects at a total cost of approximately $25,000: it will provide scholarships for five Oak Hill volunteer firefighters to receive hazardous material technician training; supply the Oak Hill Volunteer Fire Company with five self-contained breathing apparatuses; and supply both the Greene County emergency preparedness coordinator and Greene County fire coordinator with Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) software, which provides information on chemical hazards and analyzes the extent and risks of chemical releases to the air. These projects will help local authorities better deal with environmental and/or chemical accidents -- particularly those involving fire -- and truck and rail crashes. They will be completed by early November 1999.

EPA’s supplemental environmental project program gives companies settling with the agency on certain environmental violations the option to undertake projects that will benefit human health and the environment – the cost of which can offset a portion of the monetary penalty EPA would otherwise have required. Stiefel’s SEPs, like all proposed SEPs, were reviewed and approved by EPA. Later this year, the company will be required to provide proof to EPA that the SEPs were done.

For more information contact:
Nina Habib Spencer, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3670 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail:[email protected]