Rockwell to Pay $48,000 Fine Over Waste Allegations
Rockwell International Corp., plagued by environmental problems at its Canoga Park and Santa Susana facilities, has agreed to pay a $48,000 fine for mishandling hazardous wastes at its Plant 42 facility in Palmdale, federal officials said Thursday.
Under a consent agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Rockwell also agreed to improve its waste-handling and management procedures at the Palmdale site. The agreement resolves a nine-count complaint the EPA filed against Rockwell July 26.
The EPA said Rockwell had stored several kinds of waste, some of which could have reacted with each other to cause an explosion, in the same area. Other allegations included that the company failed to close several drums of hazardous wastes and that other drums were bulging and in poor condition. The EPA also cited Rockwell for faulty record-keeping, unlabeled waste containers and other problems.
Rockwell did not admit guilt under the agreement. And company spokesman Bill Mellon said most of the problems were corrected within a week of the routine inspection by EPA officials on March 13. Mellon said Rockwell intends to comply with all of EPA’s waste-handling regulations.
The citations involved Rockwell’s Site 3 facility--its main aircraft assembly area, where the B-1 bomber was built. The site at 2825 E. Avenue P in Palmdale is run by Rockwell’s North American Aircraft Division and employs about 1,500 workers, Mellon said.
In late November, Rockwell agreed to pay the state $280,000 to settle 27 alleged hazardous-waste violations at its Rocketdyne Division’s Santa Susana Field Laboratory and its Canoga Park plant.
EPA spokesman Al Zemsky in San Francisco said his agency’s inspection of Rockwell’s Palmdale facility was routine and was not spurred by Rockwell’s other problems. The $48,000 fine was slightly lower than the $54,400 amount the EPA first proposed.
Under federal law, the EPA can assess fines of up to $25,000 per day for each alleged violation, said Karen Schwinn, a branch chief with the EPA’s Hazardous Waste Management Division.
