| NJ DEP REACHES SETTLEMENT
AGREEMENT WITH RECYCLING FACILITY OVER AIR/SOLID WASTE VIOLATIONS (02/83)
TRENTON - The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) Commissioner
Bradley M. Campbell today announced a settlement agreement with Mid-Atlantic Recycling
Technologies (MART), Inc. and Casie Ecology Oil Salvage Inc, Cumberland County,
that addresses MART's air pollution and solid waste recycling violations while
helping to sustain the facility's economic viability. "This
agreement facilitates Mart's transition from a bankrupt entity with significant
environmental problems to a good corporate citizen providing jobs and recycling
services for the business community," said Commissioner Campbell. "The
MART settlement provides a reasonable time frame for the facility's compliance
that exemplifies the department's commitment to balancing environmental protection
with economic development." Odors and dust from Mart's
remedial operations, which include the recycling of petroleum- and coal tar-contaminated
soils, have impacted residents of the city of Vineland since 2001. On at least
30 occasions, the DEP verified public complaints of odors over a 12-month period. Twelve
Administrative Orders were issued by DEP to the facility between February 2001
and April 2002 for air pollution violations. Eleven subsequent air violations
occurred and were cited by the DEP during settlement negotiations. In addition
to being a source of odors that impacted residents in the surrounding community,
the facility failed to operate oil separation equipment in accordance with their
air pollution permits. DEP stack tests also determined that MART exceeded allowable
particulate emissions from the soil processing equipment in March, May and June
2002. In March 2002, an additional DEP Administrative Order
was issued to MART for recycling violations. "Without
this agreement, it is not clear that MART would have emerged from bankruptcy and
the site's contaminated soil may have been abandoned," added Commissioner
Campbell. "Significant taxpayer resources may have been necessary for the
clean up." The consent agreement provides MART an acceptable
time frame to achieve compliance with its solid waste recycling and air permits.
The agreement calls for reducing the size of unprocessed on-site soils by December
2002 and reducing the height of the processed soil pile to 35 feet by February
2003. The facility is required to develop and submit to the department a Dust
Management Plan for all operations at the MART facility. The
agreement also requires MART to conduct quarterly stack emission tests to ensure
that the soil processing equipment complies with the air pollution permit. Additionally,
it requires the facility to have an independent third party evaluate the equipment
and standard operating procedures and submit a report to the DEP to ensure sufficient
future compliance. As part of the settlement agreement,
MART and CASIE agreed to pay the DEP a penalty of $250,000 by August 2004. NOTE:
A copy of the settlement agreement is available upon request. | 
