Malvern railroad pays fine, settles with EPA
Penalty due to illegal waste storage
Malvern-based Arkansas Midland Railroad Company has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $910,985 to settle with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over allegations that the railroad had illegally stored hazardous waste on a rail line in Hot Springs.
The agency said in a news release on Wednesday that the railroad had illegally stored more than 750,000 gallons of highly flammable hazardous waste material — o-Chlorotoluene — in up to 34 unsecured and unsupervised rail cars along Spring Street, close to homes, a school and waterways, for at least two years.
The colorless liquid is classified as hazardous waste under the the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) because of its highly flammable and toxic properties; the waste was removed and shipped to an EPA-approved disposal facility under direction from the agency while settlement negotiations were ongoing, according to the EPA’s news release.
“Arkansas Midland Railroad (AKMD) takes seriously its commitment to operating safely in Hot Springs and across its entire rail line,” a company spokesman said in a statement. “We can tell you that AKMD did not own the railcars at issue nor the contents that were associated with the civil penalty. However, we cannot offer further comment on the matter at this time.”
The EPA said no evidence of leaks or exposure were found.
“Residents of Hot Springs or any community should not have to live with the threat of toxic material just steps from their homes and schools,” Regional Administrator Earthea Nance said in the release.
“EPA and our partners are here to hold companies ac
countable when they fail to comply with the hazardous waste regulations that keep people and our natural resources safe from exposure and contamination.”
A state investigation uncovered the backlog of waste material during an investigation into another facility and referred the case to the EPA; after the EPA submitted a formal request for information on the waste during the investigation, the “generator of the waste” soon after informed the agency about the rail cars, the news release stated.
Under the RCRA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and states with delegated authority can enforce requirements regarding, “the safe handling, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous wastes. RCRA requirements and permits are essential to preventing accidental releases and exposures, and costly cleanups,” the news release stated.
The Arkansas Midland Railroad Company operates 112 miles of track over five disconnected lines in Arkansas and goods transported include forest and grain products, cottonseeds and chemicals, aggregates and building materials. The railroad company was acquired by Genesee & Wyoming Inc. in 2015.