GE agrees to $2.25M penalty
ALBANY >> General Electric has agreed to pay a $2.25 million civil penalty to settle a complaint alleging federal and state environmental law violations over the use of an incinerator at the company’s former facility in Waterford.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York announced the settlement Wednesday afternoon.
The government, including the Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the New York State Attorney General’s Office and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation accused GE of using a computer program to override a
cut-off system designed to prevent incinerators from operating outside of environmental law.
GE owned the Waterford facility from 1947 through 2006 and continued to operate it through early 2007.
GE manufactured various products at the facility, including sealants made of silicone, which generated hazardous waste.
The company sought and received permits from DEC to dispose of the hazardous waste onsite, subject to compliance with the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).
GE disposed of hazardous waste in a rotary kiln incinerator that included an automatic waste feed cut-off system designed to shut down the incinerator if GE deviated from operating parameters designed to ensure compliance with the CAA and RCRA.
Federal prosecutors said GE used the computer override to continue to burn hazardous waste in the incinerator in violation of its CAA and RCRA permits.
On at least 1,859 occasions during the period of September 2006 until February 2007, federal prosecutors said GE employees manually overrode the automatic waste feed cut-off system, thereby potentially exposing the public and the environment to harmful hazardous air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, dioxins, and furans.
Though its employees were violating federal and state law, authorities said GE submitted routine compliance reports to the United States and the state of New York falsely attesting to compliance with RCRA, the CAA, and permits issued pursuant to those statutes.
First Assistant United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith said, “By operating a system to bypass safety controls, GE put the public and the environment in harm’s way. This office will continue to pursue vigorously companies that thwart laws designed to protect public health, safety, and our environment.”
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said GE ignored “its duty to comply with clean air and hazardous waste laws at the Waterford facility.”
“Today’s settlement holds GE accountable for its illegal actions and reflects my office’s continuing commitment to impose significant consequences on any company that puts New Yorkers in jeopardy by breaking environmental laws,” Schneiderman said.