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EPA FINES MIDDLETOWN COMPANY $136,000

Release Date: 10/17/1997
Contact Information: No contact person indicated on pr

BOSTON - The Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with the owner of Raymond Engineering Operations of Middletown, Conn. that requires the company to pay a $136,400 fine for violating hazardous waste and clean water statutes.

The company violated the federal Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, or RCRA, which applies to hazardous waste handling. The fine was reduced from an original figure of $178,900 due, in part, to Kaman's cooperation in settling the issue without litigation.

Kaman Aerospace Corporation, which owns and operates Raymond Engineering, manufactures electronic components and safe arming devices for military applications. Its operations include metal finishing.

"Today's settlement should send a message to other metal finishers in New England that EPA -- although willing to lend a hand when necessary -- will not tolerate those who repeatedly ignore environmental and public health safeguards," said John P. DeVillars, administrator of the EPA's New England office. "While we are pleased that Kaman has stepped up to the plate to 'do the right thing' environmentally, this case could have been avoided in the first place with a little preventive maintenance."

Under RCRA, Kaman failed to: segregate incompatible wastes; label hazardous waste containers; label hazardous waste containers with accumulation dates; keep containers with hazardous waste closed; appropriately manage hazardous waste accumulation areas; have immediate access to an internal alarm or emergency communication device; train employees responsible for hazardous waste management; and retain copies of land disposal restriction notices on site.

The Clean Water Act violations pertained mostly to the company's failure to comply with federal pretreatment reporting requirements. Kaman did not submit a baseline monitoring report or a 90-day compliance report by the due date and failed to submit periodic compliance reports.

In addition, Kaman violated the metal finishing pretreatment limitations for chromium until it ceased its discharge of metal finishing wastewater. The facility also did not complete and certify its stormwater pollution prevention plan until October 1996.

After the EPA notified Kaman of its intent to bring an enforcement action, the company cooperated in reaching a quick settlement and corrected all of its violations. The EPA discovered the violations in 1996 during a routine inspection.