Sunnyside Zero Storage, LLC of Sunnyside, WA penalized $61,500 for Hazardous Chemical Violations
Region 10
SEATTLE (December 13, 2022) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with Sunnyside Zero Storage, LLC of Sunnyside, Washington, for violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act due to the company’s failure to report storage of ammonia at its facility. The company agreed to pay a $61,500 penalty.
EPA’s Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act requires companies storing Extremely Hazardous Substances above the Threshold Planning Quantity at a facility to submit an Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Form to the Local Emergency Planning Committee, the State Emergency Response Commission, and the local fire department. Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Forms support emergency planning efforts at the state and local levels, provide local governments and first responders with current information concerning potential chemical hazards present in their communities, and help them to prepare for accidental releases.
The facility stores more than 500 pounds of ammonia which is above the threshold quantity that triggers the reporting requirement. The company did not timely submit Emergency and Hazardous Chemical Inventory Forms for calendar years 2019-2021.
The Sunnyside Storage facility is located within a half-mile of several retail businesses, an elementary school, and a health center. The company's storage of hazardous chemicals at the facility had the potential to present a substantial risk to human health and the environment, as ammonia can cause serious irreversible respiratory effects from accidental releases.
“Enforcement actions like this one send a strong message to these companies that deal with dangerous chemicals – they have an obligation to keep the public, and local emergency responders, informed about the chemicals they deal with in order to protect the communities where they are located,” said Ed Kowalski, Director of EPA Region 10’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “So many communities near industrial facilities are vulnerable to and bear a disproportionate impact from releases and day-to-day operations. This is certainly the case with the communities near this facility."
Published December 13, 2022 at 07:00AM
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