SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 - Proceeding Under Section 3008(a) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, 42 U.S.C. ? 6928(a)
On November 9, 2022, EPA and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality conducted a RCRA Compliance Evaluation Inspection (CEI) at the Facility.
On January 18, 2023, EPA emailed the Respondent an Opportunity to Show Cause Letter and
a CEI report documenting its findings from the November 9, 2022, CEI.
The Respondent was operating a toluene recycling system, which included
reactor vessels and their associated condensers, splitters and receivers, toluene storage tank
TK526, and solvent stripper feed tanks TK525 and TK528. The Respondent was attempting to
meet the conditions of the Closed-Loop Recycling Exclusion for its toluene recycling system.
Inspectors observed containers of discarded materials in Building 19 and on the Flammable Storage Covered Pad. The Respondent stated that the containers held unusable material identified during its full physical inventory, which it conducted between October 18, 2022 and October 20, 2022. However, Respondent had not made a hazardous waste determination on these discarded materials.
On March 27, 2023, the Respondent provided a copy of a hazardous waste manifest, which
indicated that a total of 400 pounds of discarded material in the containers described in
Paragraph 54 had been identified as hazardous waste and were offered for shipment to Cycle
Chem, Inc. on February 16, 2023.
The Respo