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Rhode Island Company Settles PCB Complaint with EPA

Release Date: 10/15/2001
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617) 918-1013

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced it has reached an agreement with Cooley Inc. in a case involving the Pawtucket, R.I. company's disposal of a paint-like sludge containing polychorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

Under the terms of the civil administrative enforcement settlement the company has agreed to pay a penalty of $17,000 to EPA within 30 days.

The company, located on Esten Avenue, manufactures coated fabrics used to make tarps, boats, water booms, signs and other products. On June 25, 1999, Cooley shipped about 1,100 gallons of sludge that contained PCBs to a hazardous waste disposal facility in Canada. But Cooley failed to indicate the date the sludge was stored for disposal, failed to identify the sludge as PCB waste on the shipping manifest and failed to properly list the weight of the weight in kilograms. All are violations of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The violations occurred after Cooley analyzed one sample of the sludge and, based on that analysis, incorrectly concluded the material was not a regulated PCB waste. Cooley's sample analysis indicated the sludge contained less than 50 parts per million (ppm) of PCBs, the limit at which the sludge is regulated as PCB waste.

Once the waste was shipped to Canada, multiple samples were taken and analyzed and each was found to exceed the 50 ppm threshold. Once this was discovered, the hazardous waste shipping company, Clean Harbors of Braintree, Mass., worked with EPA to return the sludge to the United States. When Cooley learned of the possible TSCA violations, it also acted promptly to address them and was cooperative during EPA's investigation.

Cooley is currently complying with the PCB requirements at issue in this case and has taken step to prevent future noncompliance.

"It is important to stress that we know of no specific health or environmental harm resulting from this violation, but the potential certainly was there," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England office. "This situation underscores the need for all companies handling or using PCBs to be very careful in the way they manage and dispose of this material."

PCBs are considered probable carcinogens and their production has been banned for decades. But the substance remains in use as a non-conductive, fire-resistant additive for many products. PCBs released into the environment during fire conditions can be volatilized and converted into even more toxic materials such as dioxin. PCBs are also known causes of liver ailments and chloracne, a persistent skin rash.

For more information about PCBs, visit EPA's Web site:
https://www.epa.gov/region1/topics/pollutants/pcbs.html