Halaco Fined for Failing to Report Toxic Emission : Environment: The Oxnard aluminum recycler agrees to the penalty, but says it merely filed the document on chemical after deadline.

An Oxnard aluminum-recycling firm that has long been the target of environmentalists has agreed to pay a $3,500 fine for violating a federal law requiring companies to report their toxic chemical emissions.

But environmental activists are far from happy about the settlement, calling it a slap on the wrist for Halaco Engineering Co.

“We think these are serious violations,” said attorney Richard Drury of Citizens for a Better Environment, which filed the complaint. “The reports are the only way the public learns who is emitting toxic chemicals.”

Halaco, located at Ormond Beach, has agreed to pay the fine for failing to report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that it had emitted more than 11,700 pounds of ammonia into the air in 1992.

Ammonia gas can irritate the skin, eyes and respiratory system, and can cause long-term lung damage if inhaled in high concentrations, Drury said.

Under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, companies are required to notify the EPA if they release more than 10,000 pounds of certain toxic chemicals into the air any given year.

Arthur Fine, the attorney representing Halaco, said the $3,500 punishment is adequate because the company merely filed the required report a few months late.

“The only violation was for one chemical, for one year, and no other violations occurred,” Fine said. “This is not like we were using 1 million pounds [of ammonia], ignoring the laws for years. No one can claim that Halaco should pay more for this.”

Dave Gable, who manages the Halaco plant, was more blunt.

“It’s basically legal extortion,” Gable said. “We didn’t do anything unethical or immoral.”

Citizens for a Better Environment, a San Francisco-based watchdog group, filed a notice of intent to sue Halaco in 1994 for allegedly failing for years to report emissions of ammonia, hydrochloric acid and other chemicals to the EPA.

But the group never sued, opting instead to handle the dispute through the EPA’s administrative hearing process. It was never able to prove that Halaco ever released more than 25,000 pounds of hydrochloric acid into the air--the amount at which a company has to file a report with the EPA--and was only able to show that the ammonia limit had been exceeded for one year.

Drury said members of Citizens for a Better Environment were disappointed that more of their charges did not stick. He also said the fine for failing to report ammonia emissions on time should have been greater.

“We felt that a higher penalty was required,” Drury said. “But the EPA has very specific regulations, and this is the most we could get.”

Under EPA rules, companies that make less than $10 million a year and fail to report ammonia emissions of less than 100,000 pounds are required to pay a minimum of $3,500 and a maximum of $5,000.

The 40-acre Halaco plant, located on the southeast border of Perkins Road, has been operating beside the wetlands of Ormond Beach since 1970. During that time, it has been the subject of numerous complaints from environmental groups and governmental agencies, and its recycling operation has triggered unsuccessful lawsuits by the EPA, the California Coastal Commission and Ventura County.

The plant includes a smelting facility, a waste disposal area and a 10-acre settling pond where metal byproducts from the operation are deposited.

Halaco officials say the settling pond was lined with a special type of clay that prevents leaks. But the EPA report released in 1992 concluded that pollutants from the settling pond were leaking into the wetlands.

The Halaco site is being considered for inclusion into the Superfund program, which would place potential cleanup under federal jurisdiction, according to EPA officials.