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EPA orders Wabash Environmental Technologies not to resume operations until it gets an approved Clean Air Act operating permit

Release Date: 03/08/2005
Contact Information:

CONTACT: William Omohundro, (312) 353-8254

For Immediate Release
No. 05-OPA024

CHICAGO (Mar. 8, 2005) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has issued an administrative order to Wabash Environmental Technologies LLC prohibiting it from resuming operations until it gets and complies with an approved Clean Air Act operating permit for its wastewater treatment facility at 1331 S. First St., Terre Haute, Ind.

Last December, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued an order to the company that barred it from accepting any wastewater until certain conditions were met. Prior to that, EPA had issued two Clean Air Act findings of violation to the company.

In January, Wabash began installing covers for some of the facility's tanks, but EPA has informed the company that the covers do not comply with federal regulations.

The EPA order requires Wabash to submit an operating permit application that specifies how the facility will comply with national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for off-site waste and recovery operations. The permit must also specify how the plant will ensure biological treatment capability and state its criteria for deciding what wastewater to accept.

Hazardous air pollutants may cause serious health effects, including birth defects and cancer. They may also cause harmful environmental and ecological effects.