US ECOLOGY, EPA COME TO SETTLEMENT AT THERMAL RECYCLING FACILITY

U.S. Ecology last week settled with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agreeing to pay a $165,657 fine and make additional capital investment in its recycling facility in Robstown, Texas, ending a two-year legal process stemming from a June 2010 inspection. During that inspection the EPA found that U.S. Ecology was processing and storing hazardous waste without a permit, though the company and Texas state regulators had considered the recycling facility’s operations as qualifying for an exclusion to Resource Conversation and Recovery Act (RCRA) standards. The Oct. 4 settlement ends the ongoing legal case, and over the last two years U.S. Ecology’s thermal recycling processes continued uninterrupted. "We are pleased that we have resolved the EPA’s outstanding concerns regarding our thermal recycling operations and believe that the path forward, as delineated in the [consent agreement and final order], will allow us to continue providing the same high quality service to our customers have come to expect for years to come," Jim Baumgardner, president and CEO of U.S. Ecology, said in a statement.