Candy-making plant fined $118K for clean air violations

Cambridge Brands Inc., a subsidiary of Tootsie Roll Industries Inc., will pay $118,000 to settle Environmental Protection Agency claims that the company’s Cambridge, Mass., facility violated the federal Clean Air Act.

According to the EPA complaint resolved through this settlement, Cambridge Brands failed to repair leaks to industrial refrigerators at its candy manufacturing facility, resulting in the release of more than 200 pounds of ozone-depleting refrigerant into the atmosphere.

In addition to failing to perform appropriate maintenance on the refrigeration equipment, EPA also alleged that Cambridge Brands failed to conduct leak repair tests and keep required service records for repairs of some refrigeration units, all in violation of Stratospheric Ozone Protection regulations under the federal Clean Air Act. EPA’s New England office discovered the violations after conducting an inspection of the Cambridge facility in January 2005.

Certain types of refrigerants have been known to destroy the thin layer of ozone in the upper part of the atmosphere known as the stratosphere. Most of these refrigerants are being phased out and replaced with safer alternatives.

“The ozone layer provides important protection to all of us from the sun’s harmful rays,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA’s New England office. “It’s important that companies and individuals who work with ozone-depleting substances follow appropriate steps to minimize the release of these materials into the atmosphere. This helps keep the ozone layer intact.”

The stratospheric ozone layer helps protect humans from being exposed to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Federal Stratospheric Ozone Protection regulations were established to limit the emissions of substances that destroy the ozone layer. These regulations provide strict rules governing the service, maintenance, repair and disposal of refrigeration equipment that contains ozone-depleting substances.

During the past few months, EPA’s New England office has filed formal complaints and proposed penalties against several other companies for similar violations, namely: US Surgical of North Haven, Conn.; Kraft Foods of Woburn, Mass.; and Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation of Stratford, Conn. EPA has settled its case against US Surgical for a $56,320 fine and has settled its case against Sikorsky for a $176,000 fine.