Rubbertown plan faces record air-pollution, explosion fines
October 13, 2011 by James Bruggers

A Rubbertown pigment-manufacturing plant that was ordered to pay $7,700 for a May explosion that injured workers is now facing a record $668,250 fine and corrective action for sloppy air-quality practices.

Eckart America, 4101 Campground Road, has agreed to pay the six-figure fine to settle alleged violations of local air-quality regulations, Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control District officials said Wednesday.

The agreement also calls for unspecified additional fines, pending the completion of an engineering evaluation to determine how much money the plant may have saved by not complying with the regulations.

The air-quality fines are unrelated to the May 9 aluminum-dust explosion in the plant's dust-collection system that injured two workers, said Terri Phelps, the district's enforcement manager.

That investigation resulted in a $7,700 fine issued Sept. 29, according to a notice of violation made public by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet Wednesday. It blamed the blast on moisture getting inside an aluminum dust-collection system, creating an explosive concrete-like metal mixture.

Major Henry Ott, the lead arson investigator for Louisville Fire & Rescue, said in an interview that the blast occurred in an area outside a plant building where there was not excessive aluminum dust.

"When we went out there, people were raising the issue of how dirty (the plant) was, but in the area where the explosion occurred, it was pristine," Ott said.

Air district officials actually began investigating the company two months before the explosion, after plant officials had reported some of the violations to the air-pollution regulators.

Phelps said some of the air-pollution violations concerned systems that handled aluminum dust, but that there was no link to the investigation into occupational safety and health violations conducted by the Kentucky Labor Cabinet.

The proposed air-quality settlement is the district's largest on record, reflecting the serious nature of what the regulators found, said Phelps. Before the agreement becomes final, it must be approved by the Louisville Metro Air Pollution Control Board, which has scheduled a public hearing Oct. 19 .

Western Louisville resident Eboni Neal Cochran, who has called for more aggressive enforcement of air quality regulations at Rubbertown companies, said it appears the air district has done a good job.

"Finally, the (air district) is following through with effective enforcement," said Cochran, a board member of the group Rubbertown Emergency Action.

She said she hopes the district will equally scrutinize other plants.

Air-district officials began investigating Eckart in March, after the plant reported deficiencies in its efforts to comply with air permits.

In a written statement, company officials said the problems had been discovered by an environmental consultant Eckart had hired.

"Our company takes compliance very seriously," said Tony Ameo, president of Eckart America. "Although these issues were absolutely not deliberate, we take full responsibility.

"We have already implemented the necessary organizational changes, and will continue to work with (the air district) and our external consultants to achieve and maintain full compliance."

In an email, plant general manager Mark Westwell described the Labor Cabinet investigation as closed, and said it resulted in three "minor" recommendations.

The proposed air district order contains the fine and outlines a plan to bring Eckart into compliance by Dec. 31, 2012, including assessing whether some of its pollution control equipment is appropriate, and to make changes if necessary.

In the order, district officials describe a series of alleged violations dating to 2006: The company failed to conduct visual emission surveys; mechanical integrity inspection and other monitoring required by its air permits. It operated equipment improperly, resulting in excess chemical emissions, and it failed to obtain district permits for certain equipment.

District officials have calculated excess emissions from this case at up to 700 pounds of aluminum between July 2008 and May 2009, and up to 10 tons per year of smog-causing volatile organic compounds from 2006 through 2011, Phelps said.

Eckart America was once part of the Reynolds Metals Co. It was purchased by Eckart, based in Germany, in 1997, and in 2005 the plant became part of the Altana group, also based in Germany.