Bristol-Myers Squibb Clean Air Act Settlement

(New York, N.Y) Bristol-Myers Squibb, an international pharmaceutical manufacturer, has agreed to reduce the output of ozone-depleting refrigerants at multiple industrial facilities around the country at a combined cost of $3.65 million in order to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

• Overview
• Injunctive Relief
• Supplemental Environmental Project
• Emissions Benefits
• Environmental Benefits
• Penalty
• Contact

Overview

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical and related health-care products company. As part of its United States operations, Bristol-Meyers Squibb owns and operates comfort cooling, commercial refrigeration and industrial process refrigeration units containing R-22 refrigerant, a known ozone-depleting substance (ODS). The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) investigated Bristol-Myers Squibb's Evansville, Indiana facility and identified testing and recordkeeping violations pertaining to refrigeration appliances at the facility. Bristol-Myers Squibb then conducted an audit of twenty-five of its other facilities located in Regions 1, 2, 4, and 5. The proposed consent decree resolves Bristol-Myers Squibb's violations of Section 507 of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and regulations promulgated thereunder at 40 C.F.R. Part 82, Subpart F.

Injunctive Relief

Pursuant to the terms of the proposed consent decree, Bristol-Myers Squibb is required to retrofit or retire four appliances by July 1, 2007, which it completed, retrofit or retire seven additional appliances by July 1, 2008, and retrofit or retire six additional appliances by July 1, 2009. Bristol-Meyers Squibb is also required to take steps to assure compliance with the leak repair, testing and record-keeping requirements at all of its facilities.

Supplemental Environmental Project

Pursuant to the terms of the proposed consent decree, Bristol-Myers Squibb is required to replace two additional non-violating comfort cooling refrigeration units at its New Brunswick, New Jersey facility with non-ODS equipment, at a cost of at least $2.25 million.

Emissions Benefits

The retirement or retrofit of ODS-containing comfort cooling, commercial refrigeration and industrial process refrigeration units is estimated to result in a reduction of approximately 4,722 pounds of R-22 chlorofluorocarbons company-wide. The supplemental environmental project at the New Brunswick, New Jersey facility is estimated to result in the reduction of an additional 1,650 pounds of ODS refrigerants.

Environmental Benefits

Ozone-depleting refrigerants destroy stratospheric ozone. The destruction of stratospheric ozone is linked to an increased incidence of skin cancer and cataracts due to excessive ultraviolet (UV) exposure. Excessive UV exposure also poses risks to human immune systems and plant and animal life.

Penalty

Bristol-Myers Squibb will pay a $127,000 penalty.

Contact

For more information, contact:

Tahani Rivers
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2242A)
1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, DC 20460-0001
(202) 564-6850
[email protected]