A Long Island recycling company will pay a $550,000 civil penalty for an alleged violation of the Clean Air Act at its metal-shredding facility in Medford, federal officials said this week.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency announced the settlement with Gershow Recycling Corporation. The company will also install pollution control technology to reduce harmful emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), officials said.
“This settlement requires Gershow to implement critical emission control technology that will help improve air quality for local communities, including those with the most vulnerable residents,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace said in a news release about the settlement.
“Breathing air with higher levels of VOCs can cause breathing problems and make people more susceptible to respiratory infection, especially for people who suffer from asthma,” Lisa Garcia, regional administrator for the EPA, said in the news release. “This proposed settlement ensures that the company installs proper pollution controls at the facility and meets environmental requirements.”
A spokesman for Gershow told Newsday that the company “felt it had a strong defense,” but “decided to settle with the EPA rather than enter into an expensive, drawn-out legal battle.
“As a result of this agreement,” the spokesman said, “Gershow will be among the first companies in the U.S. to install VOC controls.”
In 2021, federal officials say, the EPA issued Gershow a notice of violation citing it for violating the Clean Air Act (CAA). Officials allege that Gershow failed to install pollution controls at its metal shredder, causing illicit emissions of VOCs. In addition, Gershow allegedly did not obtain a CAA air permit for the facility’s VOC emissions and allegedly did not properly report the facility’s air emissions.
Officials say that Gershow’s facility operates metal shredding equipment, which is used to process scrap automobiles and other scrap material. The shredding process generates enough heat to vaporize the plastics, paints and oils in certain scrap materials, resulting in the emission of VOCs and other air pollutants. Without an emission control system, pollutants disperse into the air and impact the surrounding communities.
Now, Gershow is required to bring its facility into compliance with the CAA. In doing so, the EPA estimates that the new equipment that Gershow will install will prevent over 49 tons per year of VOC air emissions. The required pollution control equipment will also reduce the formation of harmful ground-level ozone.