(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – Ohio EPA and the office of Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray have reached a settlement with Spectrum Metal Finishing, Inc. of Youngstown after the company installed and operated a major source of air contaminants without the proper permits. The consent order – approved by the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas – requires the company to install additional pollution control equipment and pay a civil penalty of $420,000.

Spectrum Metal Finishing's facility at 535 Bev Road coats aluminum and steel items used in the architectural industry. In 2000, the company constructed a new coating line without implementing the proper control technology or obtaining the necessary permits, which violated Ohio's air pollution control laws. The company also failed to timely renew its Title V air permit and submit compliance certifications and fee emissions reports.

Under the terms of the consent order, Spectrum Metal Finishing will be allowed to offset $320,000 of the civil penalty towards the purchase and installation of a regenerative thermal oxidizer and agreed to assume significant emissions reductions as a permit restriction. The oxidizer, with an estimated cost of $1.4 million, will capture and control emissions from the company's coating line and is expected to result in a substantial reduction of air contaminants and odors leaving the facility.

The remainder of the company's civil penalty includes $20,000 to support Ohio EPA's Clean Diesel School Bus Program, $40,000 for the Ohio Environmental Education Fund, and $40,000 for state and local air pollution control programs.

To read the consent order in full, go to www.epa.ohio.gov/portals/27/enforcement/year_2010/SpectrumMetalFinishingCO_021910.pdf

Media Contacts:

for Ohio Attorney General:
Ali Lehman: (614) 466-6242
for Ohio EPA:
Mike Settles: (614) 644-2160