EPA Cites Clean-Air Law Violations at Lancaster, Ohio, Glass Plant
Posted on: Thursday, 18 August 2005, 12:00 CDT
Aug. 17--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accusing Anchor Hocking Co. of violating clean-air laws at its glass plant in Lancaster.
The EPA cited the company yesterday for what it says are significant increases in the emissions of smoke, dust and ash from the plant at 1115 W. 5th St.
Anchor Hocking, a division of Global Home Products in Westerville, has been given 30 days to meet with the EPA on how to address the violations.
"We are putting the company on notice that we have discovered violations, and they have an opportunity to present information to rebut our allegations," EPA spokesman William Omohundro said.
He said the violations were found during an EPA inspection this year.
Anchor Hocking officials declined to be interviewed, but the company issued a statement saying that it "strongly disputes the claims."
At issue are modifications the company made to the Lancaster plant in 1993. Global Home Products bought Anchor Hocking in 2004.
Anchor Hocking employs about 1,200 at the plant, where it makes glass products such as bakeware, drinking glasses, plates, jars and decorative tabletop items.
The EPA said the company installed a gas-melting furnace but failed to get a state permit that would require certain emission controls.
"We are saying they caused a significant increase in particulate emissions. They don't have adequate controls," Omohundro said.
Anchor Hocking said the plant received the required permits from the Ohio EPA before the modification was made. It said it is operating in compliance with those permits, issued in 1993 and 1998.
"Furthermore, our plant emissions have been tested throughout this period and have consistently been found to be in compliance with regulatory limits," the company said.
The U.S. EPA said Anchor Hocking's new furnace pushed total emissions at the plant to a level that required an additional permit.
The EPA said the company is operating three gas-fired melting furnaces in Lancaster, where it has the potential to emit more than 250 tons of nitrogen oxides annually.
The company's initial plan was to shut down two of those furnaces when it brought the new furnace on line, the agency said.
Inhaling high concentrations of dust can affect children, the elderly and people with heart and lung diseases the most, the agency said.
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Source: The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio
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