These 6 businesses paid nearly $400,000 over Wisconsin air pollution concerns. Here's why.
Six businesses agreed to pay a total of nearly $400,000 over the last five years after the state claimed they violated Wisconsin's air pollution laws.
The facilities span Manitowoc, Oneida, Outagamie, Ozaukee, Shawano and Wood counties, and the alleged violations date back to 2016.
In each instance, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources referred the case to the Wisconsin Department of Justice, who then filed complex forfeiture complaints in circuit court against the businesses.
The cases were settled either the same day or shortly after they were opened, court records show. As part of the agreements, the businesses did not admit liability, while the state did not concede the veracity of its allegations.
"Clean air and a strong economy in Wisconsin does not have to be opposition," said Ciaran Gallagher, energy and air manager with Clean Wisconsin, an environmental organization.
Emissions from industries and power plants can have negative economic effects, she said, from hospital bills to missed work days. By reducing emissions and improving air quality through federal standards and regulatory actions, "we're protecting Wisconsinites' health and their checkbook," Gallagher said.
More: Wisconsin's air quality has improved. The DNR manages air permits to help keep it that way.
What are the six businesses?
According to the Wisconsin DNR, the following businesses had complaints filed in circuit court over the last five years:
ECC Corrosion, Inc. (opened and adjudicated in 2019)
Carmeuse Lime, Inc. (opened and adjudicated in 2019)
Veolia ES Technical Solutions, LLC (opened and adjudicated in 2021)
Kerry, Inc., doing business as Red Arrow Products (opened and adjudicated in 2021)
Ahlstrom-Munksjo NA Specialty Solutions, LLC (opened and adjudicated in 2022)
Wisconsin Veneer and Plywood, Inc. (opened and adjudicated in 2022)
The DNR only provided business names to The Post-Crescent for closed cases; the agency said it cannot comment on active ones.
The list is also limited to cases with "Title 5 nexus," meaning the businesses have "source-specific operation permits issued under Title V of the Clean Air Act for new and existing major sources of air pollutants," according to Craig Czarnecki, DNR spokesperson.
Congress established the Clean Air Act in 1970, and has revised it since then, to protect public health and welfare from different types of air pollution caused by an array of sources, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Do all violations end up in court?
There are other air permit violations from the last five years that the DNR did not refer to the Wisconsin DOJ, Czarnecki said.
When a facility does not comply with a permit, the DNR follows a process called "stepped enforcement," according to Czarnecki, which "is a series of actions designed to resolve violations at the lowest level appropriate for the circumstances."
Those steps include inspections; letters; notices; conferences; referrals to the Wisconsin DOJ or other local and federal agencies; and prosecution/citation.
"While most cases will follow the typical progression of Stepped Enforcement actions, the Department may tailor its response to fit the circumstances of each situation," Czarnecki said, "and there are times when it is appropriate to proceed directly to prosecution," such as when "violations cause or pose significant harm to health or the environment or involve potential criminal violations."
More: After reports of foul smells, breathing issues, area factories settle for $1.6 million.
ECC Corrosion's case stems from 2017, 2018 in Wisconsin Rapids
ECC Corrosion owns and operates a reinforced plastic composites manufacturing facility in Wisconsin Rapids, which produces custom fiberglass-reinforced plastic tanks and piping, according to the complaint filed in court records.
The facility faced two violations for reportedly violating its permit when it exceeded emission limits for 11 months between May 2017 and April 2018, as well as for not reporting permit deviations in time, court records state. The complaint notes, though, that in August 2017, the business acquired a different polyester resin to lower its styrene emissions.
ECC Corrosion agreed to pay $33,926.87, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $50,000, according to court records.
The business did not respond to requests for comment.
Carmeuse Lime says it took steps to prevent future issues in Manitowoc
Carmeuse Lime owns and operates a lime quarry and lime processing facility in Manitowoc, according to court records.
On 18 days in February 2016, January 2018 and February 2018, the facility reportedly exceeded the limit from its permit, the complaint states.
“This matter ... was resolved consensually with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources," Raymond Rummel, area environmental manager for Carmeuse, told The Post-Crescent. "Carmeuse always strives to ensure continuous compliance with its environmental permits and implemented procedures to provide further assurances that similar issues would not arise in the future.”
According to court records, the company spent roughly $50,000 on equipment to provide immediate test results for the sulfur content in solid fuel, among other items.
Through its agreement with the state, Carmeuse Lime paid $42,430.28, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $62,500, court records show.
Veolia spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on improvements after DNR detected mercury in Port Washington
Veolia operates a facility in Port Washington, where it recovers mercury from mercury-containing wastes in retort ovens, according to a 2021 news release from the DOJ.
The facility allegedly violated the state's air management and hazardous waste laws, the release states, when there was an issue with a vacuum line and "Veolia emitted uncontrolled emissions of mercury ... from the facility" for about 19 hours in July 2017, "which caused an exceedance of the ambient air quality standard for mercury."
Air monitoring stations at DNR offices in Horicon and Rhinelander, 36 and 174 miles away, respectively, detected elevated mercury concentrations, according to court records. At the time, the DNR said the concentrations did not violate the state's health-based standard and did not post an immediate public health risk, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported in 2017.
As a result, Veolia voluntarily shut down all of its retort ovens and made several upgrades, which cost about $880,000, the release states.
Veolia North America "is committed to environmental protection and compliance," Matthew Burgard, spokesperson, told The Post-Crescent. "In response to the incident that occurred in 2017, VNA added safety redundancies to its recycling equipment," and "the facility entered into a new and updated air emissions and hazardous waste license" with the DNR.
Burgard added, "We are grateful for our strong relationship with state regulators as it furthers our commitment to operating safely and reliably."
In total, the complaint in Veolia's case lists five alleged violations.
Veolia agreed to pay $59,437.08, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $95,000.
Kerry faced eight alleged violations at Rhinelander facility
Kerry operates a facility in Rhinelander which produces liquid smoke.
Kerry allegedly had eight violations at its facility, including exceedances of a public health-based standard for particulate matter emissions, failure to construct an air pollution source in accordance with state approval, and failure to maintain required records, according to a 2021 news release from the Wisconsin DOJ.
The violations reportedly occurred between 2017 and 2021, according a complaint filed in court records.
Kerry has since "invested in and implemented facility upgrades to avoid ongoing violations," the release states.
Court records show that Kerry agreed to pay $61,137.75, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $90,000.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
Ahlstrom says emissions were 'quickly addressed' at Kaukauna mill
Ahlstrom operates a pulp and paper mill in Kaukauna which produces specialty papers.
On July 31, 2020, the mill emitted more particulate matter than allowed by its permit, according to a complaint filed in court records.
Ahlstrom "was pleased" to resolve the matter with the state, and "the situation had been self-reported by Ahlstrom and quickly addressed by our team back in July 2020," Addie Teeters, Ahlstrom spokesperson, told The Post-Crescent.
The company "has a strong working relationship with Wisconsin DNR and will continue to be collaborative in our environmental efforts," according to Teeters. "From sustainable forestry practices to inventing eco-friendly end-use products, sustainability is at the forefront of everything we do."
Ahlstrom agreed to pay $16,920.07, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $25,000, court records show.
Wisconsin Veneer and Plywood cleaned boilers at Mattoon facility
Wisconsin Veneer and Plywood operates a hardwood veneer, plywood and lumber manufacturing facility in Mattoon, court records show.
The facility uses a wood fired boiler which combusts scrap veneer, sawdust, wood chips and wood bark, according to a 2022 news release from the Wisconsin DOJ. The complaint alleges two violations, saying the facility exceeded its particulate matter emission limits between May and August in 2020.
"Starting on July 10, 2020, the boiler was shut down for two weeks and several parts of the boiler were cleaned. Subsequent stack testing showed that Wisconsin Veneer had returned to compliance with its permit," according to the release.
The company agreed to pay $50,933.67, plus surcharges and other costs, totaling $75,000, court records show.
The company did not respond to requests for comment.
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Reach Becky Jacobs at bjacobs@gannett.com or 920-993-7117. Follow her on Twitter at @ruthyjacobs.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Wisconsin DNR sent at least 6 air permit cases to DOJ in last 5 years
