March 2001 Enforcement Action Summary

Actions Issued

Actions Settled or Resolved

This report includes formal enforcement actions issued or resolved by the Office of Compliance & Inspection for the month of March 2001. This report is intended to inform the public of certain compliance/enforcement activities performed in the preceding month to protect the public's health, safety, welfare and the environment.

Formal Enforcement actions are taken to achieve compliance with law/regulations; remediate environmental damage; restore natural resources to appropriate conditions; impose penalties that capture the gravity of the situation and any economic benefit gained by the alleged violator; and deter similar actions in the future. Formal enforcement is generally in the form of a Notice of Violation ("NOV") that alleges certain facts and violations, contains orders to resolve the alleged violations, contains an assessed penalty with supporting documentation regarding what factors RIDEM used to determine the penalty, and, by law, allows a respondent the ability to appeal or contest the NOV to the Department's Administrative Adjudication Division ("AAD"). Since most NOVs are contested cases, RIDEM does not generally discuss the case with the public while the matter is awaiting hearing or pending negotiated settlement. NOVs are subject to release under the Access to Public Records law in Rhode Island. A copy of an individual NOV may be obtained through RIDEM's Office of Customer and Technical Assistance. The OC&I often resolves formal enforcement actions through negotiated settlement agreements prior to hearing before the AAD.

Media inquiries should be addressed to Gail Mastrati at 401-222-4700 ext. 2402. Requests for file reviews should be emailed to dem.filereview@dem.ri.gov. More information is available at www.dem.ri.gov/programs/customertech/file-review.php. Please note that formal case names appearing in blue text are linked to a PDF version of the unsigned document.

Formal Enforcement Actions Issued:

March 7, 2001 - OC&I/LUST File No. 01-3536 re: Carl C. Ferrucci, Frances S. Ferrucci and FCF Enterprises, Inc. for property located at 568 Warwick Avenue, Assessor's Plat 290, lot 114 in the City of Warwick. The OC&I alleges that the Respondents violated Rhode Island's Water Pollution Control Law, RIDEM's Rules and Regulations for Groundwater Quality, the Oil Pollution Control Regulations and portions of RIDEM's Underground Storage Tank ("UST") Regulations. The violations pertain to the release or discharge of pollutants in the form of oil/petroleum to the waters of the state, precision testing requirements, installation of overfill protection, maintenance of inventory records at UST facilities, corrective action requirements at UST facilities and abandonment of UST systems. The OC&I ordered the respondents to submit all records in accordance with the UST regulations; submit a corrective action plan to address the release; continue with remediation measures; and reimburse the department for all funds that it has expended or may expend related to its investigation and/or remediation of the contamination from the facility. The OC&I assessed a penalty in the amount of $57,590.00. The Respondents have appealed the NOV to the AAD.

March 12, 2001 - OC&I/Solid Waste File No. 01-008 re: Michael John Realty, Inc. and Nunes Disposal, Inc. for property located at 2 Ann & Hope Way, Assessor's Plat 12, lot 18, in the Town of Cumberland. The OC&I alleges that the Respondents violated Rhode Island's Refuse Disposal Act along with applicable regulations by operating a solid waste management facility without a license. The Respondent was observed to be disposing/storing solid waste and using the property as a transfer station. The OC&I ordered the Respondent to cease any continued acceptance of solid waste and to remove all waste disposed of on site. The OC&I assessed a penalty in the amount of $35,000.00. The Respondents have appealed the NOV to the AAD.

March 21, 2001 - OC&I/UST File No. 00-01587 re: The City of Pawtucket/Dept. of Public Works for property located at 250 Armistice Boulevard, Assessor's Plat 19, Lots 237 and 238 in the City of Pawtucket. The OC&I alleges that the Respondent violated UST Regulation Section 11.02 (C) prohibiting construction of a replacement tank system without prior written notification to and approval by the Director. The Respondent obtained approval for installation of the new system after the fact. The Respondent was ordered to provide missing precision testing results for tanks formerly at the facility in order to bring the facility into full compliance. The OC&I assessed a penalty in the amount of $1500.00.

March 22, 2001 OC&I/RCRA File No. 00-093 re: Ultra Metal Finishing Co., Inc. for property located at 40 River Avenue, Assessor's Map Plat 65, Lot 916, in the City of Providence. The OC&I alleges that the Respondent violated the Hazardous Waste Management Act, the Rules and Regulations for Hazardous Waste Management and applicable portions of Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The violations pertain to failure to have accumulation start dates on 90 day storage containers of hazardous waste, failure to properly mark and label hazardous waste containers, failing to keep hazardous waste containers closed at all times, failing to determine if wastes are hazardous, failing to develop a contingency plan, failing to document training for company personnel, failing to obtain an EPA ID number, failing to keep records, failing to conduct a biennial report and failing to submit the names and signatures of agents authorized to sign RI uniform hazardous waste manifests. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations and assessed a penalty in the amount of $25,750.00.

March 22, 2001 - OC&I/UST File No. 99-00653 Amended NOV re: John J. Paterra, II and Food N Fuel, Inc. for property located at 873 Cranston Street, Assessor's Plat 7, Lot 121, in the City of Cranston. On July 8, 1999, the OC&I issued a NOV to the Respondents alleging multiple violations of the UST Regulations pertaining to mandatory upgrade requirements, precision testing, installation of overfill protection, and inventory control records. The Respondents appealed the NOV to the AAD. Following the issuance of the NOV, the Respondents removed 4 UST's from the facility and discovered petroleum contamination at the facility. The OC&I issued this Amended NOV to add allegations of violations of Rhode Island's Water Pollution Control Law, the Rules and Regulations for Groundwater Quality, the Oil Pollution Control Regulations and additional violations of the UST Regulations. The new violations pertain to the release of pollutants to waters of the state and failure to perform a site investigation, submit a site investigation report and implement corrective action. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations, performance of a site investigation and site investigation report as well as implementation of a corrective action plan as needed. A penalty of $76,832.00 was assessed against the Respondents. The case is before the AAD.

March 26, 2001 - OC&I/AIR/Lead Paint File No. 01-04 re: Gerald J. Puleo for property located at 35 Sheldon Street, in the City of Providence. The OC&I alleges that the Respondent violated Air Pollution Control Regulation No. 24 relating to "Removal of Lead Based Paint from Exterior Surfaces". These violations pertain to written notification prior to the removal of lead paint, covering of toys, play equipment and furnishings within 50 feet of the removal, installation of impenetrable material to prevent ground contamination, installation of vertical containment shrouds, use of a HEPA vacuum for machine sanding, and misting of exterior surfaces prior to manual scraping. The OC&I assessed a penalty of $3,250.00. Prior to the issuance of the NOV, the respondent cleaned the property of lead paint chip debris generated by the removal operation.

March 30, 2001 OC&I/LUST File No. 01-3595 re: David J. Langley and Dave�s Auto Service Center, Inc. for property located at 34 Narragansett Parkway, Assessor's Plat 292, Lot 388, in the City of Warwick. The OC&I alleges that the Respondents violated Rhode Island's Water Pollution Control Law, RIDEM's Rules and Regulations for Groundwater Quality, the Oil Pollution Control Regulations and portions of RIDEM's Underground Storage Tank ("UST") Regulations. The violations pertain to the release or discharge of pollutants in the form of oil/petroleum to the waters of the state, precision testing requirements, installation of spill containment basins, maintenance of inventory records at UST facilities, site investigation requirements, corrosion protection requirements, monthly and annual testing of leak monitoring devices and operating USTs not registered with the DEM. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations including a site investigation report and corrective action plan/remediation if necessary, reimbursement to DEM for its investigation and costs of remediation at the site, the submission of all reports required by the regulations, and a closure application for the USTs at the facility along with a closure assessment. The OC&I assessed a penalty of $52,500.00.

Formal Enforcement Cases - Settled or Resolved

March 2, 2001- OC&I/RCRA File No. 98-021 re: Albin Manufacturing, Inc. for property located at 226 West Shore Road, in the Town of Portsmouth. The OC&I issued a NOV to the Respondent on March 31, 1999 alleging violations of the Hazardous Waste Management Act, Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations (Protection of the Environment) and the Rules and Regulations for Hazardous Waste Management. The violations pertained to marking/labeling containers of hazardous waste, secondary containment for liquid hazardous waste containers, failure to maintain a contingency plan, failure to train personnel dealing with hazardous waste, weekly inspections of containers, storage of hazardous waste in excess of 90 days, record keeping and failure to determine if wastes were hazardous. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations and assessed a penalty in the amount of $86,500.00. The Respondent appealed the NOV to the AAD. Prior to hearing the OC&I and the Respondent executed a consent agreement to resolve the NOV wherein it was acknowledged that the Respondent has brought itself into full compliance with the Regulations. The OC&I agreed to resolve the penalty in this case by allowing cash payment of $12,475.00 and authorized a Supplemental Environmental Project in the amount of $48,295.00 to reduce pollution in the Respondent's boat building operations. The Respondent's SEP encompasses the reduction of fiberglass scrap and acetone still bottoms. By purchasing/operating equipment to grind scrap laminate from numerous molded pieces and mixing former still bottom waste with resin and catalyze, the resulting mixture can be used as a spray laminate in the boat building operation. This eliminates discarding the unusable molded pieces as a solid waste and eliminates the need to dispose of the acetone still bottoms as a hazardous waste.

March 7, 2001 - OC&I/UST File No. 00-01841 re: Albert L. Conti, Patricia K. Conti and Snug Harbor Marina, Inc. for property located at 410 Gooseberry Road, Assessor's Plat 88-1, lot 10, South Kingstown. On July 14, 2000, the OC&I issued a NOV alleging that the Respondents violated sections of RIDEM's Regulations for Underground Storage Facilities Used for Petroleum Products and Hazardous Materials (" the UST Regulations"). These violations pertained to tank upgrade requirements for UST systems, prohibiting substantial modification of UST systems without prior notification and approval, and requirements to install overfill protection. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations and assessed a penalty of $6,210.00. The Respondents appealed the NOV to the AAD. Prior to hearing, the Respondent and the OC&I agreed to execute a consent agreement to resolve the NOV. The Respondents were able to show that the facility was in compliance with the regulations on some issues and agreed to bring the facility into compliance with those regulations where violations still existed. The Respondent agreed to pay a penalty in the amount of $2,700.00. A payment schedule was agreed to by the OC&I.

March 21, 2001 - OC&I/UST File No. 99-02939 re: Mario Martone and Rose Martone for property located at 301 Branch Avenue, Assessor's Plat 72, lot 325, in the City of Providence. On February 4, 2000 the OC&I issued a NOV to Respondents alleging Respondents violated sections of RIDEM's UST Regulations pertaining to: mandatory corrosion upgrade requirements for UST facilities; precision testing requirements and written test results; installation of overfill protection; and maintenance of daily written inventory records. The OC&I assessed a penalty in the amount of $31,913.00. On March 21, 2001, the Respondents and the OC&I executed a consent agreement to resolve the NOV. The consent agreement acknowledged that the Respondents were unable to produce all records to show full compliance with the regulations. Two USTs at the facility were permanently closed by April 12, 2000. The Respondents agreed to pay a penalty in the amount of $15,950.00. The OC&I agreed to allow the payment over a scheduled period of time.

March 21, 2001- OC&I/AIR File No. 01-01 re: The Original Bradford Soap Works, Inc. located at 200 Providence Street in the Town of West Warwick. On January 19, 2001 the OC&I issued a NOV to the Respondent alleging that the Respondent violated Air Pollution Control Regulation No. 9 entitled, "Air Pollution Control Permits" when it failed to comply with all conditions of a permit issued to the Respondent. The violations pertain to monitoring and testing of air pollution control equipment. The Respondent was ordered to comply with the permit conditions and was assessed a penalty in the amount of $11,250.00. The Respondent appealed the NOV to the AAD. Prior to hearing, the Respondent and the OC&I executed a consent agreement to resolve the NOV wherein it was acknowledged that the Respondent was now in compliance with the orders contained in the NOV. The penalty in this matter was reduced to $4,250.00 and was paid in full upon execution of the agreement.

March 27, 2001 - OC&I/Solid Waste File No. CI/SW 97-6 re: New England Ecological Development, Inc. (NEED) for the Respondents Transfer Station/Wood Recovery/Solid Waste Management Facility located at Green Hill Road, Assessor's Plat 30, Lot 63, in the Town of Johnston. On July 11, 1997, the OC&I issued a NOV to the Respondent alleging that the Respondent violated portions of RIDEM's Rules and Regulations for Composting Facilities and Solid Waste Management Facilities. The violations pertained to dust control, equipment addition without approval, conducting waste storage outside of protective structures, management of leachate, and control of litter. The OC&I ordered compliance with the regulations and assessed a penalty of $21,500.00. The Respondent appealed the NOV to the AAD. On March 27, 2001, the OC&I and the Respondent executed a consent agreement to resolve the NOV. The agreement requires the Respondent to comply with its dust control plan, inspect for and control litter, store waste in closed containers, keep the leachate collection system clean and maintained and revise the facility's operating plan to include its Re-Tech equipment. The Respondent agreed to amend its license application currently pending with the DEM Office of Waste Management to include the Re-tech equipment. The DEM allowed for the continued operation of the Re-tech equipment pending operating plan and license amendments. Operation of the equipment must cease if the Respondent fails to amend its operating plan and/or license. For settlement and legal purposes, the penalty was reduced to $3,500.00.