Monday, October 19, 2009

NO PERMITS?

The Morning Call reports on an Upper Nazareth company that continues to operate despite having no permits and having been cited for environmental violations multiple times over many years by the DEP (read the article here).

Perhaps most troubling, environmental advocates say, is that the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection allowed the plant -- designated as a ''high priority'' violator -- to continue to do business for more than three years without a valid operating permit.

Fines, penalties, continued violations over a span of eight years and the company Steel Management Systems, continues to operate. It should be noted these are not technicalities either. One instance involved releasing 12 tons of xylene (a solvent) in the air, another was for leaving open barrels of unknown chemicals around the facility, and there was one for finding ash around barrels indicating they were burning waste.

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