U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 recently reached an agreement with Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio, for violating Federal laws on the reporting of hazardous chemicals.
The company has agreed to pay a $12,465 fine and complete environmental projects totaling $65,000.
The fines come as a result of a release that occurred during a September 1998 fork lift accident at the plant.
A driver hit the supply line to a ferric sulfate tank causing a release of ferric sulfate.
Pepsi-Cola reported a 38,050 pound release. The reporting minimum for ferric sulfate is 1,000 pounds.
The facility was evacuated for more than two hours, and three employees were injured while attempting to control the release.
As its environmental projects, Pepsi-Cola will install an open-top concrete secondary containment around its ferric sulfate tank that will prevent future releases of ferric sulfate into the environment.
It will also upgrade the control system and install an alarm on the ammonia refrigeration system used for cooling raw materials and products.
Since 1989, EPA Region 5 has filed 218 complaints for hazardous chemical violations, resulting in 205 settlements worth $4.87 million in total fines and $3.08 million in environmental projects.