BALTIMORE, MD (February 21, 2008) – The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Air and Radiation Administration (ARMA) issued the following enforcement actions between December 1 and December 31, 2008

• Fountainhead Cleaners

  Washington County – On December 10, MDE received payment of $300 from Fountainhead Cleaners in response to a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty issued by MDE to the facility. Fountainhead Cleaners is a dry cleaning facility in Hagerstown, Maryland. The enforcement action was for failure to comply with air quality requirements for dry cleaners, including failure to register a change of ownership, failure to monitor and keep records of condenser temperatures, and failure to monitor and keep records of leak checks. An MDE inspector conducted a follow-up inspection and determined that all violations have been corrected.

• Fil-tec

  Washington County – On December 12, MDE issued a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty in the amount of $36,000 to Fil-tec for violations of air quality requirements. Fil-tec receives, stores, and applies methanol, a VOC, as part of their process. VOC emissions are controlled by two thermal afterburners. MDE determined that the production lines operated on numerous days without proper operation of the afterburners, thereby violating air quality requirements. During this period, excess VOC emissions were estimated to be about 2 tons.

• Southern Insulation

  Baltimore County – On December 12, MDE issued a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty in the amount of $7,500 and a Corrective Order to Southern Insulation for violations of asbestos requirements. Southern violated asbestos requirements while conducting asbestos abatement and removal activities at the ISG steel mill in Sparrows Point. Violations include improper disposal and labeling of asbestos waste, failure to provide asbestos photo ID cards, and failure of a worker to wear proper protective clothing. Southern is a licensed asbestos abatement contractor in Maryland. The Corrective Order requires Southern to submit a plan within 30 days to ensure future and on-going compliance with asbestos requirements.

• Gas Station Enforcement Actions

  On December 24, MDE issued eleven enforcement actions to owners/operators of gas stations. Each enforcement action consisted of a Notice of Proposed Civil Penalty and a Corrective Order. The penalties range from $2,000 to $4,000. The actions address various violations of vapor recovery regulations, including failure to test, failure to provide test results, failure to train workers, failure to keep records, and failure to post signs. Proper operation and maintenance of vapor recovery equipment at gasoline dispensing facilities is an important component of Maryland’ s State Implementation Plan for reducing VOC emissions to address ground-level ozone exceedances.

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