A Brookfield-based chemicals company will pay $179,000 in a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it was cited for unsafe chemical storage practices and potential violation of the Clean Air Act.
Greenfield Global Inc. is a privately-owned company that provides chemical repackaging, formulation and storage services at its Brookfield facility. The EPA claims the company failed to design and maintain a safe facility. The EPA determined that the company's storage of hazardous chemicals at the facility had the potential to present a substantial risk to human health and the environment due to the presence of carcinogenic and highly flammable substances.
The EPA also reported that Greenfield did not properly report all chemicals it was processing, as required under the Clean Air Act.
“Enforcement actions like this one send a strong message to these companies that deal with dangerous chemicals,” David Cash, EPA New England regional administrator, said in a statement. “They have an obligation to keep the public, and local emergency responders, informed about the chemicals they deal with and ensure they are stored safely in order to protect the communities they are located in.”
Greenfield Global did not respond to a request for comment. The EPA said the company was cooperative and responsive and has since corrected the safety issues.
The EPA has been putting more resources into reviewing safety practices at chemical plants, said Mary Jane O’Donnell, waste and chemical compliance section chief for EPA New England.
“We’re making more of a concerted effort to focus on this particular sector,” O’Donnell said.
