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EPA to Collect Fine from Lilly Del Caribe Inc.

Release Date: 09/15/2003
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(#03103) New York, N.Y. – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Lilly Del Caribe Inc. has agreed to pay $68,992 in penalties to settle allegations that it violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law that regulates hazardous waste. Lilly, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, is located at Km 12.6 65th Infantry Road in Carolina, Puerto Rico. It manufactures pharmaceutical products including Nebcin and Vancomycin. The company has certified to EPA that it is now in compliance with the hazardous waste regulations. EPA inspected the Lilly facility on April 29, 2002. The Agency determined that several violations of air emission monitoring requirements had occurred at the facility between April 1999 and April 2002. Specifically, Lilly failed to properly calibrate monitoring instruments used to detect leaks from valves, pumps and flanges in a system of pipes carrying hazardous waste from its manufacturing processes to its hazardous waste storage units. This increased the possibility that toxic chemicals, such as volatile organic compounds, could be released into the air undetected. "Our regulations help to ensure that companies like Lilly Del Caribe do not release toxic chemicals into the environment from their equipment," said EPA Regional Administrator Jane M. Kenny. "Many toxic compounds evaporate into the air very easily and can aggravate respiratory ailments. It is essential that companies with these chemicals in their waste follow EPA regulations very carefully to ensure that they don't escape into the air." The facility review that resulted in this fine was part of EPA's air emissions enforcement initiative. Under this program, companies that treat, generate, store or dispose of relatively large amounts of hazardous wastes are inspected to ensure compliance with RCRA. More information about hazardous waste regulations can be found online.