Titanium Metals Corp. to Pay $13.75M Penalty and Clean up PCBs Contamination
Titanium Metals Corporation (TIMET), one of the world’s largest producers of titanium parts for jet engines, has agreed to pay a record $13.75 million civil penalty and perform an extensive investigation and cleanup of potential contamination stemming primarily from the unauthorized manufacture and disposal of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) at its manufacturing facility in Henderson, Nevada, the Department of Justice and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced last week. TIMET will pay an additional $250,000 for violations related to illegal disposal of hazardous process wastewater, in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
PCBs are human-made organic chemicals that were widely used in paints, construction materials, plastics, and electrical equipment prior to 1978. PCBs, which are probable carcinogens, have been banned in the United States for the last 30 years, except for specific uses authorized by regulations. When released into the environment, PCBs can persist for decades because they do not break down through natural processes. Exposure to PCBs has been demonstrated to cause cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, and endocrine system. PCBs have also been designated by the State of California as a chemical known to cause cancer and reproductive harm, and products that may expose consumers to PCBs must be accompanied by a health hazard warning.
TIMET processes titanium from rutile ore at its 108-acre manufacturing facility at the Black Mountain Industrial (BMI) Complex in Henderson. This process generates hazardous waste and PCBs. In the complaint, the government alleged that EPA inspections revealed that TIMET had been unlawfully manufacturing PCBs as a by-product of its titanium manufacturing process, without an exclusion from the Toxic Substances Control Act’s ban. An EPA inspection also revealed that the company had disposed of PCB-contaminated waste in a solid waste landfill and a trench at the plant. The complaint further alleges that, on several occasions, the company had unlawfully disposed of acidic, corrosive hazardous process wastewater into an unpermitted surface impoundment at the facility, in violation of RCRA.
The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.