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Ariz. facility fined for failing to report haz chemicals

Release Date: 06/30/2006
Contact Information: Leo Kay, 415-947-4306

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fined Cal-Chem Metals, Inc. $52,203 for failing to report to the appropriate local, state and federal authorities regarding hazardous chemicals at its Globe, Ariz. facility from 2001 through 2003.

Cal-Chem also failed to submit timely toxic chemical release inventory forms to the EPA and the state regarding the amount of copper compounds released from the facility.

“This company has a responsibility to provide prompt and accurate information about the chemicals it is storing,” said Keith Takata, the EPA’s Superfund Division director for the Pacific Southwest. “Without this information, state and local emergency responders cannot be adequately prepared to protect communities in the event of a chemical release.”

The EPA began investigating in April 2004 after two fires occurred at the facility located at 2451 Highway 70 East. The EPA discovered that the company failed to provide information to the state of Arizona, the local emergency response commission and the fire department detailing the amount of copper compounds at its mineral processing facility.

Federal emergency planning and right-to-know laws require companies to report to the EPA, state and local emergency responders when hazardous chemicals exceed regulatory thresholds. Each year the EPA compiles information submitted to it from the previous year regarding toxic chemical releases and produces a national Toxics Release Inventory database for public availability. This TRI database includes detailed information on nearly 650 chemicals used by over 23,000 industrial and federal facilities.

For more information on the EPA’s environmental databases, visit https://www.epa.gov/enviro.