RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia's Attorney General Mark Herring and the Department of Environmental Quality on Wednesday announced that a settlement has been reached with Rubbermaid over violations of the Virginia Air Pollution Control Law and the applicable permits and regulations.
Part of the settlement requires Rubbermaid to pay $184,500 in civil penalties for violations in the past. It will also be subject to stipulated penalties if the company commits violations in the future.
AG Herring said between February 2016 and July 2018, Rubbermaid failed to get permits before install and operate machines including a bake-off oven, powder coating equipment, and a laser cutter.
The Department of Environmental Quality issued multiple warnings during the 2 and a half years, but Rubbermaid decided to continue to operate the unpermitted equipment even while it was in the middle of the permitting process.
On top of that, Herring said Rubbermaid misled the Department of Environmental Quality about the machines they were operating and the timeline of when the machines were installed and in use.
“Rubbermaid knowingly and blatantly constructed and operated these machines without the proper permits, even after they had been notified by DEQ multiple times of their violations,” said Attorney General Herring. “Machines like these can have serious negative impacts on the air and the environment around them if they are not properly permitted and regulated. I hope this sends a message to other similar companies that Virginia will not tolerate the unpermitted construction and operation of machines that could potentially harm the environment.”
Here's a breakdown of the settlement against Rubbermaid:
- Pay a civil charge of $184,500
- Pay stipulated penalties for:
- Construction/modification/reconstruction at a Rubbermaid Virginia manufacturing facility or portion of a facility without required air permit coverage;
- Failure to provide notification of equipment installation or startup required pursuant to any permit issued pursuant to the Virginia Air Pollution Control Law and the Regulations at any Rubbermaid Virginia manufacturing facility;
- Failure to comply with the corrective action plan; and
- Failure to comply with the terms of the consent order.
- Undertake a corrective action plan that requires:
- Rubbermaid to conduct a “Comprehensive Environmental Compliance Evaluation addressing Environmental Requirements and Rubbermaid’s process, measures, or other means for ensuring compliance with Environmental Requirements . . .”;
- An evaluation to “be conducted by an independent auditor who shall evaluate each Virginia Rubbermaid manufacturing facility ;
- Rubbermaid to identify all applicable environmental requirements applicable to the Facility and to comply with them, including delineating clearly who is responsible for compliance, having in place mechanisms for assessing compliance; and
- Rubbermaid to submit quarterly reports “regarding the progress of the environmental evaluation.”
