Company Faces Fine for Leakage of Refrigerant

GTE California Inc. faces an $85,000 federal fine for charges that it improperly released ozone-depleting chemicals into the air.

The Pomona company has air conditioners that contain the refrigerant CFC-11. Although the chemical is legal to use in such equipment, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says GTE failed to repair leaks and recycle the gases.

Chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, are restricted under an international treaty and U.S. law because they “harm the Earth’s stratospheric ozone layer, which protects all life on the Earth’s surface from ultraviolet radiation,” said Dave Howekamp, director of the EPA’s regional air division.

Two Northern California companies and a Hawaii business also were fined a total of more than $127,000.