Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. responded to the proposed penalties of $367,500 and related commentary issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) against Reliance’s Earle M. Jorgensen Company (EMJ) subsidiary.
The proposed penalties relate to EMJ’s participation in the ongoing environmental cleanup of sediments in a portion of the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) which EPA has listed as a Superfund site. EMJ, which was acquired by Reliance in 2006, is one of more than 100 parties identified as potentially responsible for remediating sediments in the site. Despite having sold its facility within the site to a third party in 1992, EMJ has been working cooperatively for over 13 years to address contamination at the LDW Site.
Gregg J. Mollins, Reliance’s president and chief executive officer, commented, “It is always Reliance’s intention to comply with the law. Furthermore, EMJ’s proactive cleanup efforts at the LDW Site for over a decade demonstrate our commitment to protecting the environment. EMJ has been working in collaboration with EPA to implement the agreed cleanup plan, and we strongly disagree with the assertion that EMJ has been anything but extremely cooperative, responsive and diligent. Despite this dispute, EMJ intends to continue working cooperatively with EPA and all stakeholders to get this job done.”
Published in the November 2015 Edition of American Recycler News
