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PM Resources, Inc., of Bridgeton, Mo., to Pay $44,623 Civil Penalty for Community Right-to-Know Violations

Release Date: 11/09/2011
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 913-551-7394, [email protected]

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., Nov. 9, 2011) - PM Resources, Inc., a pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed to pay a $44,623 civil penalty to the United States to settle four violations of environmental regulations related to the public reporting of toxic chemicals at its facility in Bridgeton, Mo.

According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., the Agency conducted an inspection of PM Resources’ facility at 13001 St. Charles Rock Road in Bridgeton in December 2010. The inspection found that the company had failed to make a timely report to EPA and the State of Missouri on quantities of tetracycline hydrochloride that were manufactured, processed or otherwise used at the facility during 2009.

The inspection also found that the facility, which is situated in a densely populated suburban area, failed to maintain documentation for quantities of ethylbenzene, tetracycline hydrochloride, and xylene that were manufactured, processed or otherwise used at the facility during 2007.

Ethylbenzene, tetracycline hydrochloride, and xylene are toxic chemicals that can have negative impacts on human health and the environment. General information about potential health concerns and environmental effects associated with releases of and exposures to toxic chemicals is available at www.atsdr.cdc.gov/substances/index.asp.

Submission of the annual toxic chemical reports is a requirement of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Under EPCRA regulations, companies of certain size are required to submit annual reports to EPA and state authorities listing the amounts of regulated chemicals that their facilities release into the environment through routine activities or as a result of accidents. The reports provide an important source of information to emergency planners and responders, and residents of surrounding communities.

EPCRA was enacted by Congress in 1986 as an outgrowth of concern over the protection of the public from chemical emergencies and dangers. After the catastrophic accidental release of methyl isocyanate at Union Carbide’s Bhopal, India, facility in December 1984, and a later toxic release from a West Virginia chemical plant, it was evident that national public disclosure of toxic release inventory information was needed.