By Ben Solis
Gongwer News Serivce
A federal judge last Wednesday ordered the disbursement of settlement funds deposited into an account by R.J. Torching, a scrap metal recycle facility in Flint accused of pollution violations that eventually agreed to install pollution capture and control systems, as well as to pay $150,000 in civil penalties.
The original agreement was reached in late 2023, and a final agreement was brokered in November 2024.
In an order issued last Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith of the Eastern District of Michigan directed the withdrawal of $75,000 deposited R.J. Torching into a court registry account to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Goldsmith said the deposit was made late last month and that the consent decree allowed for EGLE to withdraw the funds.
The order also allows EGLE to withdraw 98 percent of the accrued interest on the $75,000 payment to be disbursed to the state.
The lawsuit, USA v. R.J. Torching (USEDM Docket No. 23-13056), was filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EGLE in 2023. It alleged that in 2015, the company entered into an administrative consent order with the EPA to resolve violations of state and federal air pollution regulations. The company was advised to use their Smoke Particulate Air Reduction Clone System while torch cutting. The unit was determined to not be controlling emissions, and the EPA and EGLE, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, decided to take up a new enforcement action.
R.J. Torching also has a location in Battle Creek that has received violation notices regarding the company's torch-cutting emissions.
The settlement required the company to use a movable enclosure to house the company's torch-cutting operations and construct a new pollution control system to capture the emissions and remove particles in the air using a fabric filter system within seven months of the effective date of the consent decree. Until then, the company is required to do all torch cutting within the existing onsite closure and to limit its operating hours. Air pollution testing, better monitoring and compliance with a more stringent air emission standard are required as well.
The settlement also required the payment of $150,000 in civil penalties, half of which was paid last month.
Gongwer News Serivce
A federal judge last Wednesday ordered the disbursement of settlement funds deposited into an account by R.J. Torching, a scrap metal recycle facility in Flint accused of pollution violations that eventually agreed to install pollution capture and control systems, as well as to pay $150,000 in civil penalties.
The original agreement was reached in late 2023, and a final agreement was brokered in November 2024.
In an order issued last Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith of the Eastern District of Michigan directed the withdrawal of $75,000 deposited R.J. Torching into a court registry account to the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. Goldsmith said the deposit was made late last month and that the consent decree allowed for EGLE to withdraw the funds.
The order also allows EGLE to withdraw 98 percent of the accrued interest on the $75,000 payment to be disbursed to the state.
The lawsuit, USA v. R.J. Torching (USEDM Docket No. 23-13056), was filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EGLE in 2023. It alleged that in 2015, the company entered into an administrative consent order with the EPA to resolve violations of state and federal air pollution regulations. The company was advised to use their Smoke Particulate Air Reduction Clone System while torch cutting. The unit was determined to not be controlling emissions, and the EPA and EGLE, along with the U.S. Department of Justice, decided to take up a new enforcement action.
R.J. Torching also has a location in Battle Creek that has received violation notices regarding the company's torch-cutting emissions.
The settlement required the company to use a movable enclosure to house the company's torch-cutting operations and construct a new pollution control system to capture the emissions and remove particles in the air using a fabric filter system within seven months of the effective date of the consent decree. Until then, the company is required to do all torch cutting within the existing onsite closure and to limit its operating hours. Air pollution testing, better monitoring and compliance with a more stringent air emission standard are required as well.
The settlement also required the payment of $150,000 in civil penalties, half of which was paid last month.
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