U.S. Fines North Kingstown, R.I.-Based Facility $650,000 for Chemical Accident Prevention Violations
Publilshed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
BOSTON (July 26, 2023) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Justice Department have reached a settlement with Taylor Farms New England, Inc. to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) at the company’s food processing facility in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The alleged violations pertain to chemical release prevention and reporting requirements under both statutes. The company will pay $650,000 in civil penalties and ensure that 19 other facilities in the corporate family are audited to assess whether their ammonia refrigeration systems are being safely designed and operated.
Taylor Farms uses anhydrous ammonia in the facility’s refrigeration system. Anhydrous ammonia has many economic and operational benefits as a refrigerant; however, its use requires great care due to the chemical’s toxicity and its flammability at certain vapor concentrations. Anhydrous ammonia can cause serious, often irreversible health effects when released. The chemical is considered an extremely hazardous substance.
“It’s imperative that facilities properly handle extremely hazardous substances to prevent dangerous chemical accidents. Companies using extremely hazardous substances must coordinate closely with local emergency responders and planners to minimize harm if chemical accidents occur,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “Carefully following chemical accident prevention regulations is necessary to safeguard workers and nearby communities. EPA works to protect all communities, including vulnerable populations who shoulder a greater share of these risks. We are pleased that under this settlement, Taylor Farms will assess the other ammonia refrigeration systems within their corporate family to see if they comply with industry standards of care. We urge other corporations to take this step.”
Taylor Farm’s Rhode Island facility uses approximately 16,000 lbs. of anhydrous ammonia as a refrigerant, which subjects it to the CAA’s chemical accident prevention regulations (Risk Management Plan requirements), and to emergency planning and notification requirements under EPCRA. During an EPA inspection in 2019 to support local emergency responders and planners, EPA identified numerous concerns, including that the facility’s evaporators were not protected from potential forklift impacts – even though the company’s own hazard analysis had recommended protecting certain evaporators from impacts.
Subsequently, in April 2020 an ammonia release occurred when a forklift bumped into an evaporator located in a fruit storage room. The company had moved the evaporator to this location after conducting its initial process hazard analysis and had failed to identify the need to protect the evaporator prior to starting its operations. The incident resulted in hundreds of employees being evacuated, a road being shut down, food destroyed, and 14 employees requiring medical evaluation at a local hospital. EPA issued an administrative compliance order to the facility on June 11, 2020, to require the company to correct CAA and EPCRA violations and EPA subsequently referred the case to the Department of Justice. EPA also coordinated with the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, which issued its own citations.
Some of the key violations alleged in the complaint include failure to identify hazards, including from changes made to the facility; failure to timely follow through on recommendations made in the company’s process hazard analysis; failure to document compliance with recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices; and failure to adequately coordinate with local emergency response and planning organizations.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Taylor Farms will pay $650,000 in penalties, implement specific safety improvements at the North Kingstown, R.I. facility, evaluate whether the facility’s existing safety measures are adequate given employee language barriers, evaluate whether the facility’s location in a storm surge evacuation zone and in an area subject to hurricane-force winds poses risks that should be assessed, and conduct safety audits of the ammonia refrigeration systems at 19 other facilities in the corporate family nationwide. Taylor Farms completed most of the compliance work needed at the Rhode Island facility after EPA issued its compliance order in 2020.
Taylor Farms New England manufactures and stores perishable prepared foods for grocery stores and other retail businesses at a decommissioned naval air base in North Kingstown. The facility is in a hurricane evacuation zone. A worst-case release of ammonia from the facility could affect other businesses, a residential area, an elementary school, an airport, and a Rhode Island Air National Guard base. Hundreds of people work at the facility, many who are not native English-speakers. The North Kingstown facility is one of about 20 locations in the United States with ammonia refrigeration systems operated by the privately-owned Taylor Fresh Foods, Inc. corporate family.
Thousands of facilities nationwide make, use, and store extremely hazardous substances, including anhydrous ammonia. Catastrophic accidents at ammonia refrigeration facilities result in evacuations as well as fatalities, serious injuries, and other harms to human health and the environment.
More information:
The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. Once it is published in the Federal Register, a copy of the consent decree will be available on the Justice Department website at: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decrees
Under the Clean Air Act, the Risk Management Program (RMP) Rule implements Section 112(r) of the 1990 Clean Air Act amendments, which requires certain facilities that use extremely hazardous substances over established threshold amounts to develop a Risk Management Plan. More information: https://www.epa.gov/rmp
In the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, Congress also enacted Section 112(r)(1), known as the General Duty Clause (GDC). It applies to facilities where extremely hazardous substances are present, regardless of the amount of extremely hazardous substance at the facility. The GDC requires such facilities to identify hazards, design and maintain a safe facility, and minimize the consequences of releases. More information: https://www.epa.gov/rmp/general-duty-clause-under-clean-air-act-section-112r1
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 was authorized by Title III of the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act to help communities plan for chemical emergencies. It requires industry to report on the storage, use, and releases of certain chemicals to federal, state, tribal, territorial, and/or local governments. It also requires these reports to be used to prepare for and protect their communities from potential risks. More information: https://www.epa.gov/epcra
Compliance resources for facilities with ammonia refrigeration systems: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/compliance-assistance-tools-and-resources-ammonia-refrigeration-sector
Read the full article at: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/us-fines-north-kingstown-ri-based-facility-650000-chemical-accident-prevention
