Thursday, May 15, 2003

Provo Foundry Focus of Federal Probe McWane Inc. has been in the spotlight recently, the subject of television documentaries and newspaper features, for its remarkable record of workplace safety and environmental pollution. Now the federal Justice Department has opened a probe of the company which has one of its foundries, the Pacific States Cast Iron Pipe Company, in Provo. A former executive of McWane said that in 1999 and 2000, the Provo foundry was falsifying air emission tests. The New York Times reports today than a former engineer for Pacific States said that the plant had systematically lied about smokestack test results to Utah air quality officials. The company is one of the larger employers in Utah County, with 300 employees. (Utah County Web Site). An info.utah.gov search of Pacific States shows that the company has received several violation notices from the Division of Air Quality, on 10/15/99, 8/11/00, and 11/14/01. Pacific States was issued a new 5 year operating permit (required by Title V of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments) by DEQ on April 10 of this year. (Title V Permits Issued). Utah compliance inspector Robert Simine told the Times, If a company intentionally wants to falsify records or produce more than they are allowed to produce or burn a lot of hazardous waste, then there is no way we can catch them unless an insider decides to report it. [Allowables for Companies within the PM10 SIP Domain (Excel spreadsheet) [New York Times (Registration required)] 8:54:05 AM