Newsprint Plant Cited for PCB Use Violations
Federal environmental officials have issued a complaint charging the Pomona plant of Smurfit Newsprint Corp. with violating regulations on the use of the toxic chemical, polychlorinated biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a $36,000 civil fine in the case.
As a result of a routine inspection at the plant at 2205 W. Mt. Vernon Ave., the federal agency reported that it found PCB leaks from four transformers and small spills at two of those transformers. The company was also cited for keeping combustible materials near the transformers and failing to keep adequate records in the second quarter of 1990.
The company can either request a hearing before an administrative law judge to contest the fine or can meet with EPA to settle the case, federal officials said.
Company spokesman and environmental legal counsel Roy Cobb said, “We don’t think it was an actual environmental harm or any significant risk.”
He said that Smurfit tries “to be very careful in handling any materials like PCBs” and that the firm is phasing out its use of transformers that contain the chemical.
Once used extensively as an insulator in transformers, the chemical is now considered a probable carcinogen by the EPA. Since 1979 the agency has banned its manufacture because of its toxicity and environmental persistence.
