Forks Company Fined $192,000 for Air Pollution Violations

A Forks Township manufacturer of takeout food containers—cited about two years ago for federal health and safety violations—has agreed to pay a $192,000 fine in a separate case involving violations of the Air Pollution Control Act.

The agreement to pay the fine was announced Friday by the state Department of Environmental Protection, which said Ecopax LLC failed to properly monitor and control air emissions from May 2008 through May 2011.

An Ecopax official said in response to the DEP announcement that the situation involved "an equipment operating error that occurrred during our startup phase."

The official, Christina Wong, vice president of operations, also said, "The situation never posed a health or safety risk to our community or employees."

Ecopax employs 71 people at its 3600 Glover Road facility.

DEP pointed out in its news release that in September 2011, Ecopax performed testing and the results were found to be in compliance with emission limitations.

DEP also said that prior to the period covered by the fine agreement, the company had no violation or penalties from the department in the previous five years.

Ecopax's Wong also said in her statement that the "operating error was found in a DEP inspection on May 18, 2011. We corrected this error the next day and have operated well within DEP guidelines since that time."

Wong also said, "We apologize for any concern the DEP announcement may have caused and we want to assure everyone that we have committed significant resources—especially technical staff—over the last two and a half years to ensure all parts of our manufacturing operation comply with requirements set forth by the DEP."

The DEP release said the department and Ecopax have signed a consent order and agreement that requires the company to pay a civil penalty of $192,085.78 for the air pollution violations.

DEP said it reviewed company records during the three years covered in the agreement and "determined that Ecopax violated the conditions of its plan approval permit by failing to maintain the minimum operating temperature of a regenerative thermal oxidizer [RTO] which is used to control air pollution."

DEP said it also determined that while the RTO was in operation, "not all components of the unit were working properly. During an inspection of the facility in 2008, it was determined that the RTO was in 'off mode' while manufacturing was in process."

Mike Bedrin, director of DEP's northeast regional office in Wilkes-Barre, said in the release, “Violations like this add to the overall breakdown of adequate air quality control measures. A company must make sure that all equipment is operating efficiently in order to reduce pollution."

In September 2011, meanwhile, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Ecopax for 19 safety and health violations following an inspection at the company's Forks warehouse.

The proposed penalties came to $57,400, according to a news release on the OSHA website.

The OSHA release said 18 "serious violations" with penalties of $55,300 included such findings as failing to maintain emergency lighting in the warehouse, provide employees with training on operating procedures, provide employees exposed to noise hazards with proper training and monitoring, provide written operating procedures for the foam extrusion system, implement a change management procedure for the process safety program, ensure that exit routes were not impeded, and ensure that fire extinguishers were readily available and employees were trained in their use.

In addition, OSHA found an "other-than-serious violation" with a $2,100 penalty for failing to properly record injuries and illnesses in the OSHA record-keeping log, the OSHA release said.

Ecopax's Wong said of the OSHA case, "The OSHA matter from 2011 involved an unrelated, isolated personnel issue and was resolved immediately."