Coatings maker agrees to build solvent safety system

A Vermont coatings manufacturer has agreed to spend $272,711 to design and install a solvent emission capture and control system at its Brattleboro plant as part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The new system is meant to protect workers and the environment from the emissions.

C.E. Bradley Laboratories also will pay $71,000 in fines to settle the EPA's claims that it violated federal and state hazardous waste laws.

"This settlement will help protect workers and neighboring communities from potential exposure to hazardous wastes," Curt Spalding, regional administrator of the EPA's New England office, said. "Due to EPA's action, the company not only has taken steps to correct the alleged violations, but also has undertaken a project to create a safer workplace."

The EPA filed a complaint in 2015 that accused C.E. Bradley of nine state and federal hazardous waste regulation violations, per the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).

C.E. Bradley’s facility was inspected in 2014 and “inspectors found numerous drums of hazardous waste that were alleged to have been stored for well over 90 days, rags contaminated with solvents hung to dry, hazardous wastes stored in open containers and a cracked and deteriorated concrete containment area in the main hazardous waste storage area,” the EPA said.