U.S. EPA fines The Gas Company over Clean Air Act violations in Kapolei
HONOLULU – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with The Gas Company, LLC over Clean Air Act violations at their synthetic natural gas facility in Kapolei, Hawaii. The company will pay a $230,000 fine and carry out changes to improve safety by reducing the risk of releases of flammable substances.
“EPA is fulfilling its commitment to ensure that energy facilities reduce the risks of hazardous material releases, to protect local communities and the environment,” said Amy Miller, EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division Director for the country’s Pacific Southwest region. “Facilities that do not comply with federal requirements will face significant fines.”
A January 2020 EPA inspection of the facility revealed violations of the Clean Air Act’s chemical release prevention and reporting requirements. Findings included failure to meet process safety requirements, failure to perform an adequate process hazards analysis and promptly address related recommendations, failure to correct equipment deficiencies, and a lack of required information in the facility’s emergency response plan.
In addition to paying a penalty, The Gas Company agreed to modify equipment, address audit recommendations, train maintenance employees, and complete other compliance tasks.
Thousands of facilities nationwide make, use, and store extremely hazardous substances. The EPA inspected this facility as part of the Agency’s National Compliance Initiative, which seeks to reduce risk to human health and the environment by decreasing the likelihood of accidental releases at facilities. The resulting settlement is part of a series of similar agreements EPA has reached with Hawaii companies to bring them into compliance with Chemical Accident Prevention requirements to prevent and mitigate the consequences of chemical accidents.
For more information on the Clean Air Act’s Risk Management Plan Program, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/rmp.
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