Chemical company cited for Clean Water Act violations

Regulatory Matters - 1/15/2003

HOPEWELL, VA – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cited Hercules Inc. (NYSE: HPC) for Clean Water Act violations at the company's Aqualon Division chemical plant here.

The EPA said in a news release it is seeking a $33,000 penalty for unlawful discharges of pollutants into nearby waterways and into Hopewell's municipal wastewater treatment facility.

Hercules reported a 17 January 2002 equipment malfunction at the Hopewell plant that caused the discharge of vapor containing ether, ethanol and chloroethane, EPA said.

A portion of the vapor discharge was washed down with firewater sprinklers, the agency said, and Hercules reported that most of the contaminated sprinkler water was collected in an industrial sewer system, but some was discharged into the West Bear Creek, in violation of the plant's Clean Water Act permit.

EPA also cited Hercules for violating its pretreatment permit by discharging excessive levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) to the Hopewell treatment plant in January 2002.

According to EPA, the BOD discharge interfered with the operation of the Hopewell treatment plant, causing the plant to violate its own BOD discharge limits.