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EPA PROPOSES MORE THAN $115,000 IN FINES FOR R.I. POWER COMPANY

Release Date: 09/30/1998
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office, (617) 918-4154

BOSTON - The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to fine a power-generating plant in Johnston, R.I. $115, 817 for violating numerous federal hazardous waste and clean water regulations.

Ridgewood Providence Power Partners -- which recovers gas from the nearby Central Landfill and converts it into electricity -- is being cited for numerous violations that indicated that the plant failed to have a complete environmental program in place when EPA inspectors investigated the facility in 1997. The EPA is proposing to fine the facility $19,400 for federal Clean Water Act violations and $96,417 for violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), one of the country's major hazardous waste handling statutes.

"While we are very supportive of efforts to recover landfill gas for power generation, those operations must be conducted with the health and safety of the surrounding community in mind," said John P. DeVillars, administrator of the EPA's New England Office.

RCRA violations included failure to maintain a contingency plan for response to hazardous waste emergencies, failure to have a hazardous waste training plan, failure to train employees, failure to make proper waste determinations for the hazardous waste shipped off site, and failure to label a 3,000-gallon hazardous waste tank.

The Clean Water Act violation was for failure to maintain a spill prevention plan for responding to emergencies regarding the facility's storage of 14,933 gallons of oil. At the time of the inspection, Ridgewood had no procedures in place for responding to oil spill emergencies.

The hazardous waste generated by Ridgewood is a condensate containing various organic compounds collected as a result of processing the landfill gas prior to energy production.