|
| ||
|
Arizona Republic June 20th, 2007 For more information, contact:
|
Gila River votes to shut down waste facility By Betty Beard An industrial waste recycling plant on the Gila River Reservation near Chandler may have to close, forcing an estimated 800 customers to start shipping their wastes out of state. The Gila River Indian Community on Wednesday refused to approve the company's permanent permit, apparently because of concern over several recent incidents and fines from the Environmental Protection Agency. Romic Environmental Technologies Corp., a waste management company, says it is the only recycler of certain types of hazardous liquid wastes in the state. It has been operating in the Lone Butte Industrial Park on the reservation, southeast of Interstate 10 and the Santan Freeway, with an interim federal permit since 1988. Because the Gila River community
is its landlord, it needed its approval for continued operations.
Rejection by the community's
governing council
means the company could remain open for months during appeals but that
the plant likely will shut down at its current location Namki Yi, Romic's
president, said the company could rebuild in the state but that such
a move could take years. It would need permits from the Arizona Department
of Environmental Quality and the permitting process varies by state. "In
Palo Alto it is taking us 13 years to renew a permit from the Department
of Toxic Substances Control in California ," Yi said.Gila River
officials had been getting nervous about Romic because of two incidents
in the past year that resulted in a putrid smell last November and
a brief flash fire, as well as the EPA fines in April. Employees are
trained to keep records and to follow procedures so accidents don't
happen and materials end up where they are supposed to. But errors
happen, Yi acknowledged. In April a sample test showed that a substance
could be recycled. But in actual production the result was a putrid
smell that workers at nearby plants described as like "wet fish." Operations
shut down and the EPA determined no toxic substances were released.
Last November someone mistakenly poured hydrogen peroxide into a tank
where acid had been stored, and a flash fire resulted. It was put out
immediately and the sprinklers never went off. Romic was fined more
than $32,000 for failing to report the incident and other violations.
Yi said "personnel changes" resulted from those incidents.
In 2005 the company was fined by EPA for multiple violations found
during inspections in 2002 and 2003.The company handles liquid and
some solid wastes from industries and retailers, mostly in Arizona
. The material can be reclaimed, recycled and even blended into alternative
fuels that can substitute for natural gas. "When you go to some
of those oil-change places, you could potentially be getting recycled
antifreeze," said Namki Yi, Romic's president. |