HP Hood settles with EPA over plant ammonia leaks
Major dairy manufacturer HP Hood LLC has agreed to pay over $115,000 to settle claims by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the company violated the Clean Air Act in the way it handled anhydrous ammonia at its ice cream plant in Suffield, following the crash of a forklift into refrigeration equipment.
In October of last year, the EPA found that anhydrous ammonia, a caustic, flammable refrigerant, had been released from Hood’s 153,000 square foot ice cream plant in Suffield, a suburb located just south of the Massachusetts border on the west side of the Connecticut River.
Anhydrous ammonia is a potent refrigerant, but it is highly corrosive to human skin, lung tissue and eyes. At high concentrations ammonia is flammable and potentially explosive.
“When a company falls short in meeting its safety obligations, it puts workers, local communities, and the environment
at risk. With the company operating facilities across the country, we have a duty to call out a lack of accountability when we see it,” said EPA New England regional administrator David W. Cash in a prepared statement. “Ensuring safety and management practices
of hazardous substances is key.”
The EPA inspected the plant after a forklift collided with refrigeration equipment, causing a leak. Inspectors found procedural and mechanical safety deficiencies at the plant, including damaged pipe insulation
and another ammonia leak from a rooftop valve. An eyewash station near an ammonia high pressure receiving tank was also blocked by other equipment in the same room.
“As a leader in the food & beverage industry, Hood understands the importance of conducting business in a way that maintains a strong focus on workplace safety and environmental requirements,” wrote Lynne Bohan, vice president of communications for Hood in an email to CT Insider.
In addition to the fine, Hood has agreed to allow the EPA to audit its six facilities nationwide.
“Impacts to equipment have caused several accidents at facilities owned by other companies located in New England,” wrote Mikayla Rumph, EPA spokesperson. “As a result of EPA’s action, HP Hood LLC has brought its facility in Suffield, Conn., into compliance to correct the conditions found during the inspection.”
This is not the first time the EPA has cited a local company for anhydrous ammonia leaks or safety hazards. In 2014 the EPA issued an emergency order to remove ammonia from a frozen dessert company in West Hartford due to a major ammonia leak at the facility. The dessert company shared a building with the Playhouse on Park theater and was situated in a residential neighborhood.