NEDAK Ethanol LLC vs The EPA

The Environmental Protections Agency or EPA was developed to help develop regulations for, inspect the facilities of, and file suites against corporations whose business practices have an impact on the environment. The EPA requires permits, plans, and reports of all companies who have any level of environmental risk involved in their business. While it may seem to some that the regulations of the EPA get in the way of business, their work is a very important line of defense against corporations who sometimes consider their bottom line more important than the safety or their workers, local neighborhoods, and the environment. Many of the violations that the EPA reports and prosecutes are minor and have not yet caused major damage. The fines that are charged and settlements that are reached often help prevent larger more catastrophic accidents and many corporations.

One recent settlement involved that ethanol company NEDAK Ethanol LLC. While this company did not cause any major environmental harm or commit any criminal offences they did fail to submit or develop a required Risk Management Plan for one of their production plants in Nebraska. As a result the company has agreed to pay a fine in the amount of $3,600. Even more important than the fine, the company has agreed to invest no less than seventeen thousand nine hundred dollars in new environmental improvements to their plant and also to assist local emergency responders.

Eight thousand seven hundred dollars of the improvement money has already been allocated to provide the Atkinson Fire Department with eleven state of the art radios to help improve their ability to communicate during any future emergency operations. These radios will include six headset radios that will enable the firefighters to have hands free communication. A little over nine thousand dollars of the fund will be spent on plant improvements. A new leak detector system and sensors will be installed to closely monitor the dangerous chemicals like ammonia and combustible gases that are used at the plant.

NEDAK Ethanol LLC falls under the Environmental Protection Agency's jurisdiction because of the Clean Air Act. The focus of this division of the EPA is to ensure the proper containment of dangerous chemicals. The EPA's Clean Air Act Regulations also require action plans of all companies who may be at risk for an accident that could release dangerous chemicals into the air. The NEDAK Ethanol facility was inspected in April of 2010. At the time of the inspection the company had not submitted an emergency action plan, nor had they developed one, to deal with possible hazards at the facility.

According to EPA regulations the plant should have submitted an emergency action plan because of the large amounts of pentane and butane, both highly flammable gasses, being stored at the facility. While these gases are commonly used at this type of plant and the company was not committing and criminal offence by having them at the location, the EPA goes to great lengths to try to prevent corporate irresponsibility and make it easier for companies who develop plans for how to deal with possible disasters.

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