The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has proposed a $10,000 civil fine against the Rock-Tenn Co. paper mill in Demopolis.
In a consent order published on the agency's web site, ADEM says that Rock-Tenn emitted more sulfur dioxide than allowed under its permit on two days in December 2007. Rock-Tenn, based in Norcross, Ga., told ADEM that the problem stemmed from improper startup of its power boiler and failure by employees to respond quickly to alarms meant to prevent excess emissions.
Officials with Rock-Tenn, which has about 500 employees at its Demopolis mill, have said the company agrees with the consent order. (For a complete report, read Saturday's Press-Register.) http://blog.al.com/live/2008/05/adem...lois_mill.html
I found this online today and thought it was worth sharing.
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$10k. Chump change for a company as big as Rock Tenn! ADEM is nothing but a joke! I am sure Rock Tenn could take this to court, tie it up in court for a few years, wind up costing the state of AL more in legal fees than the $10k would cover, and get this silly assed civil fine dismissed in the process!
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With all do respect stick, this is not seem to be a big event. I don't know all of the specifics, but it doesn't seem to be earth shattering. The punishment should not out-run the crime just because the company is bigger.
This kind of event can happen in seconds. It is simular to if you haven't cleaned out your car's fuel system in a while, and that first crank causes a little puff of black smoke.
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But one "puff of black smoke" does not cause a fine. Multiple events must occur for a fine to be given. The part that talks about the "failure to act" was what struck me. If the alarm sounds and you do not pay attention to it, you deserve a fine. They are just lucky it wasn't more.
This kind of event can happen in seconds. It is simular to if you haven't cleaned out your car's fuel system in a while, and that first crank causes a little puff of black smoke.
The "alarm" could have very well been just a local control room alarm. Those will come on hundreds of times a day for any number of process conditions. It does not have to be multiple events to get a fine. Every time those sensors on the stack measure outside a permitted limit it will trigger an event and ADEM will act. This isn't a fuel oil tank dumped into the river, this is a scrubber that didn't act right, or an incinerator that didn't work properly, etc... Each event could have been only a minute.
I am not saying that ADEM shouldn't have fined them. If you break the rules then you will pay the fine. I do not however think that this was a careless act or intentional event.
As I stated in a previous post, the fine should not be disproportionate to the "crime". I am just growing a little tired of mills and plants being looked at as a bunch of environmentally careless polluters. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of these places run a very clean operation.
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There is alot more polutant problems that ADEM and other officals need to be concerned over besides the big companies with alot of money. They need to be concerned about all the poor, redneck, or just plain stupid people out in the rural areas of the county that have no sewege systems in place and have raw sewage running thru the woods or some into their neighbors yard.......Thing I hate most about my job is when i'm fight a woods fire on my dozer and I get it stuck in sombodys "CRAP HOLE" that is illeagle!!! These are the people who should be fined! ........But they are poor and have no money, so the officals who supposed to enforce this law look the other way.
You want Ugly? I know Ugly!!!
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What people dont understand and realize is that these companies spend millons, yes I said millons, of dollars each year to control their emmisons to the environment and these costs add not one red cent to help produce the product they are making so is just overhead added to the cost of the products they produce! And people say in other countries the reason for lower cost is always labor, well this isnt true, as Our USA companies are held to way more higher standards than any where else in the world yet all of the other worlds pollutants are very much an issue for Us here in the USA as it goes into the air that circulates about the earth! So think about it next time you buy somethign from a foriegn country and think about how they dont give a rip if what goes in the air reaches you or your kids, or that the ozone layers are about depleted, just that you got it cheaper than these high paying jobs here in our good ole USA!
Grandkids and kids all make Us feel younger than We actually are!!!
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Even worse,go to a house fire and there is no pipe hooked up to their trailer.It just runs staight out of the bottom of the trailer.That is just gross.
There is alot more polutant problems that ADEM and other officals need to be concerned over besides the big companies with alot of money. They need to be concerned about all the poor, redneck, or just plain stupid people out in the rural areas of the county that have no sewege systems in place and have raw sewage running thru the woods or some into their neighbors yard.......Thing I hate most about my job is when i'm fight a woods fire on my dozer and I get it stuck in sombodys "CRAP HOLE" that is illeagle!!! These are the people who should be fined! ........But they are poor and have no money, so the officals who supposed to enforce this law look the other way.
You want Ugly? I know Ugly!!!
