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Alcoa to pay $550,000 settlement for water pollution at
Indiana
plant
February 2002
U.S.
Water News Online
LAFAYETTE
,
Ind.
-- Alcoa Inc. will pay $550,000 to settle a federal lawsuit alleging the
aluminum maker's aerospace products plant violated water pollution limits.
Under the agreement,
Pittsburgh-based Alcoa admits no wrongdoing and avoids a trial over the
1999 complaint filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
``We are pleased to have this
matter resolved,'' said Jim Bollenbacher, vice president of environment,
health and safety for Alcoa Engineered Products. The EPA alleged that
wastewater discharged from the Lafayette
plant contaminated nearby Elliott Ditch.
The releases violated
regulatory limits on polychlorinated biphenyls and other pollutants
released into Elliott Ditch, the EPA said. PCBs were once used as
insulation and a coolant. They have been banned because of links to cancer
in laboratory animals.
In addition to paying
$550,000, Alcoa is required to:
Make a study of Elliott Ditch
and Wea Creek to determine the sources of PCBs in the waterways and their
effects on sediments and fish;
- Continue efforts to eliminate
discharges into Elliott Gulch;
- Comply with pollution permits;
- Limit the plant's water use to
less than 300,000 gallons per day.
The agreement's total cost to
Alcoa has not yet been determined.
The plant already is operating
within the water-use limit, processing 200,000 gallons of water a day,
Alcoa spokeswoman Lisa Elliott said. The plant reduced its water
use 86 percent in the past two years, she said.
Alcoa paid a $17,600 civil
penalty to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management after a 1998
discharge of hydraulic fluid killed more than 4,000 fish in Elliott Ditch.
But Alcoa officials say the
company has taken several steps to address environmental issues at Lafayette, including the adoption of a zero-discharge goal five years ago.
Also, Alcoa is working on a
stormwater drainage system that would no longer drain into Elliott Ditch.
U.S. Water News can be found at http://www.uswaternews.com
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