Palmer Construction Company Penalized $8,000
for Environmental Violations

The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has penalized CONTECH Construction Products, Inc. $8,000 for violations of hazardous waste and water pollution control regulations at their Palmer manufacturing facility.

The violations were discovered during MassDEP's April 2008 inspection of the company's Fenton Street facility. The inspection revealed that the company was violating MassDEP's hazardous waste management requirements and was discharging industrial wastewater to the ground.

CONTECH also failed to properly label waste oil tanks and containers, maintain containers of hazardous waste in good condition, clean up spills in the waste oil tank containment area, determine if waste materials generated were hazardous and improperly accumulated hazardous waste. 
       
MassDEP ordered CONTECH to immediately stop discharging wastewater to the ground and to develop a plan for wastewater management.

The company will pay a $6,000 penalty, with an additional $2,000 suspended pending compliance with the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement. The company, which fully cooperated with MassDEP, has been working to address the compliance issues. 

"Compliance with these basic hazardous waste and wastewater management requirements is not difficult," said Michael Gorski, Director of the MassDEP Western Regional Office in Springfield. "Noncompliance can easily jeopardize the health and safety of employees and the environment, and it can be costly to industry."

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