ExxonMobil to pay $2.64m in fines for banned PCBs

22 August 2008 20:59  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--ExxonMobil Corporation agreed to pay $2.64m (€1.77m) in fines for improper disposal and handling of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), officials said on Friday.

The incident occurred at an offshore oil and gas platform off the California coast, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said. The EPA said that 400 gal (1,514 litres) of the PCB-contaminated fluid were leaked between 2002 and 2005.

“Today’s settlement sends a clear signal that companies must follow PCB regulations to protect communities and our environmental resources,” EPA’s Pacific Southwest region administrator Wayne Nastri said.

The EPA claimed Exxon allowed one of the transformers to leak for almost two years before repairing it, constituting illegal disposal of PCBs and a violation of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act.

ExxonMobil also failed to ensure that workers who cleaned up the leaked fluid were provided with protective clothing or equipment, the EPA said.

The company replaced the two transformers with non-PCB containing transformers in 2005.

The US manufactured over 1.5bn lbs (680,388 tonnes) of PCBs before the EPA finally banned all production of the class of chemicals in 1978.

Human health concerns over the lengthy persistence of PCBs in the environment had led Congress to enact the Toxic Substances Control Act in 1976.

($1 = €0.67)

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By: Leela Landress
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