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US SETTLES AIR CASE AGAINST AES/NTRON, INC. OVER CFC VIOLATIONS

Release Date: 12/1/1998
Contact Information: David Sternberg (215) 814-5548

EXTON, Pa. - The United States Environmental Protection Agency announced today that AES/Ntron of Exton, Chester County, has agreed to pay an $85,000 penalty to resolve alleged  violations of federal regulations on ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).  

AES/Ntron, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exton-based Neutronics, Inc., manufactured equipment to recover and recycle CFC-containing refrigerants.  An April 1998 complaint, filed by the U.S. attorney’s office on behalf of EPA, alleged that recycling/recovery equipment manufactured in 1994 and 1995 was not certified by an EPA-approved testing laboratory, as required by the Clean Air Act.  The government also alleged that the company failed to properly label this equipment, and submitted incomplete and inaccurate responses to EPA’s requests for information.

The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval before it becomes effective.

Scientists believe that CFCs contribute to the destruction of the earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, which protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation.  Ozone loss in the atmosphere may lead to an increase in skin cancer in humans and damage to plant and animal life.  For more information on CFCs and stratospheric ozone, please call the Stratospheric Ozone Information Hotline, 1-800-296-1996, or visit www.epa.gov/ozone.


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