Rosemount recycler to pay $1.1 million in clean-air case

Article by: KATIE HUMPHREY , Star Tribune
Updated: June 8, 2012 - 8:48 PM

Spectro Alloys, an aluminum processor near Rosemount, admitted it withheld test results showing EPA violations.

0
comments
resize text
print
buy reprints

Tweet
share

email
Email share

your name

your email

recipients email

+ add a comment add a comment

Spectro Alloys, an aluminum recycling company in Rosemount, will pay $1.1 million in penalties for concealing test results that showed the facility had violated federal air pollution laws.

In a plea agreement last week that ended a criminal case brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the company admitted to submitting a report indicating it was in compliance with emissions requirements of the Clean Air Act when, in fact, its own testing showed otherwise.

An unreported test by the company measured dioxin and furan emissions exceeding air pollution standards.

Spectro will pay a $500,00 fine and be on probation for two years.

"Spectro acknowledges that the test should have been reported and is sorry for the mistake," the company's leaders said in a written statement.

At the time, the company said, it did not believe it needed to report the results of the test, which they said was conducted "to learn how the company would comply with EPA regulations in the future and was successful."

An additional $600,000 fine will be part of the settlement of a corresponding civil lawsuit, pending final approval by the court.

In that case, the EPA said the facility along Hwy. 52 exceeded limits for dioxin, furan and hydrochloric acid emissions. The EPA also said the company failed to install and operate equipment to capture and treat emissions.

Regarding those other violations noted by the EPA between 2003 and 2009, the statement from Spectro Alloys said, "All such issues were corrected and individuals responsible for those lapses are no longer with the company."

Both the civil and criminal settlements require the company to beef up its testing and reporting procedures or face additional penalties.

Spectro Alloys processes scrap metal, melting it in two large furnaces to produce aluminum and other alloys.

Katie Humphrey • 952-746-3286