Jill Butterworth (AGO)
(617) 727-2543
Ed Coletta (MassDEP)
(617) 292-5737

MARTHA COAKLEY

ATTORNEY GENERAL

"Companies that use dangerous materials and emit pollutants into the environment have to be held to a very high standard of care," said Attorney General Coakley.  "The volatile air pollutants that were emitted by this facility endanger the public’s health and well being, and have serious detrimental effects on our precious natural environment.  While the large civil penalty in this case is appropriate because public health and safety and the environment were compromised, equally important are the facility's improved compliance operations."

“Strict compliance with our environmental regulations will ensure that the public health is protected from emissions that foul our air and toxic wastes that pollute our environment,” said Commissioner Laurie Burt of the Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).  “These companies failed to follow the rules, and it will result in stiff penalties. More importantly, they have changed their ways and emissions will be significantly reduced.”

The first SEP requires the companies to pay $150,000 to the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management to help fund the installation of auxiliary power units on Providence and Worcester Railroad diesel powered locomotives.  The units will reduce locomotive idling and excess diesel particulate emissions in and around Attleboro, where the railroad operates.  The second SEP requires another $150,000 to be paid to the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority to help fund a river and riverbank restoration project on the Ten Mile River as part of a Massachusetts-approved downtown urban renewal plan.   

This case was referred to the Attorney General's Office by MassDEP's Regional Enforcement and Compliance Team (REACT), which operates out of MassDEP's Southeast Regional Office and focuses on investigating complex, multi-violation environmental cases. 

The Attleboro facility has long manufactured materials used to produce and enhance pharmaceuticals, health supplements, foods, and non-edible products, like wall spackle, and has emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the ambient air.  VOCs combine with oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in the presence of heat and sunlight to form ground level ozone (smog) that can cause premature death, lesser human respiratory and cardiac problems, toxic effects in plants and animals, and the degradation of man-made materials such as rubber and fabrics. 

The complaint alleges that after Mantrose submitted inconsistent reports to MassDEP about the facility's solvent use, REACT investigated and concluded that Mantrose inaccurately reported the facility's actual emitting status to the agency in 1997 when seeking an air permit to emit VOCs.  REACT found that the facility used outmoded equipment, including meters that could not accurately record solvent use, and that since 1998 the facility has annually emitted, at a minimum, two to three times more VOCs than the permit allowed.  The complaint further alleges that the companies knowingly disregarded their legal obligation to seek and obtain a new air permit to reflect the facility's actual emitting status.  REACT also uncovered violations at the facility of water pollution, hazardous waste management, toxics use reduction, and oil and hazardous material release prevention laws and regulations.  

The complaint also alleges the companies failed to properly store, label, handle, transfer, transport, recycle and keep records concerning wastes generated at the facility; failed to obtain a required recycling permit; and failed to give MassDEP information about its recycling activities.  The companies also allegedly violated water pollution prevention laws by intentionally discharging facility industrial wastewater to the Ten Mile River without a permit, and by injecting pollutants to groundwater without a permit.

The complaint further claims that the companies failed to submit to MassDEP accurate and required reports of the facility's use of toxic chemicals and complete toxics use reduction plans, and that they failed to identify what happened to byproducts and chemicals emitted from the facility.  Lastly, the complaint alleges the companies' failure to report to MassDEP two significant releases of sulfuric acid to the environment, even though state laws and regulations require prompt reporting of all releases of hazardous materials above certain threshold amounts.

The settlement requires the companies to obtain a new air permit; limit facility air emissions; modify operations, manufacturing equipment, and record-keeping practices; and to otherwise bring the facility into compliance with the environmental laws.  The companies must also conduct audits to show that they have systems in place to deal appropriately with future environmental problems, and to identify and correct any other existing facility compliance issues.  The companies also must comply with the hazardous waste management laws and account to MassDEP for the generation and proper disposal of such wastes.  They may no longer discharge industrial waste water and storm water from the facility without a valid and effective permit, and they must permanently close all places at the facility through which pollutants can be injected into the ground and groundwater. 

This settlement is the second largest ever reached by the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division.  The largest settlement in the division’s history was reached with Waters Technology Corp. in 2003 and involved air pollution and other violations by a company in Taunton. The Environmental Protection Division obtained a $5.9 million civil penalty, and a $600,000 SEP under that settlement.

Attorney General Coakley has made environmental protection a priority of her administration.  Since taking office in January 2007, her office has brought a number of enforcement cases and reached various settlements in cases that involve air pollution.  Most recently, Attorney General Coakley brought two enforcement cases against two inspections stations for allegedly conducting over 400 fraudulent inspections in violation of the Clean Air Act.  Earlier this year, Attorney General Coakley’s Office obtained a $3.1 million settlement with American Electric Power Company (AEP).  As part of that multistate settlement agreement, Massachusetts will receive $3.1 million over five years to be used for projects of its choice designed to further mitigate harm caused by the company's past excess emissions.  It also requires the company to make large cuts in its emissions of air pollutants from its coal-fired power plants in Massachusetts. And in April 2007, the United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Massachusetts and eleven other states in its first case ever involving global warming.

This case was handled by Assistant Attorney General Fred Augenstern of Attorney General Coakley’s Environmental Protection Division.  Investigating the case and working with the Attorney General’s Office on its enforcement were MassDEP staff, including Richard Gioiosa, PC Mehta, Tom Cushing, Ed Braczyk, Jean Warters, David Johnston and Shaun Walsh.

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