Company at Port Manatee pleads guilty to Clean Air Act violations

A company operating at Port Manatee has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $1 million fine for Clean Air Act violations, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida said Wednesday.

In a press release, A. Brian Albritton said Kinder Morgan Port Manatee Terminal LLC, a Delaware firm doing business at the port, failed to maintain its pollution control system for seven years, from "in or about" 2001 to March 2008.

"Protecting the quality of the air we breathe must be a priority," Albritton said. "Those who pollute the environment must be stopped and must pay for their illegal pollution."

"We're concerned about all the tenants of the port complying with environmental regulations," said Steve Tyndal, the port's senior director of trade development and special projects. "Port staff is in the process of requesting the information from the EPA and the FDEP."

He added that the port's staff and officials did not know about the pending legal case, but the port is working to ensure its tenants are compliant with all state and federal environmental laws.

The company has a materials handling facility at the port, where it handles granular fertilizer and cement clinker by rail, truck and ship. When the materials are not handled correctly, the release said, they generate particulate matter, an air pollutant regulated by the Clean Air Act.

Tyndal said the port doesn't own any of Kinder Morgan's facilities, and just leases the land to the company. The company has been cleaning up its operations at the port and made improvements to its warehouses, he added.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection administers the Clean Air Act in Florida through a state implementation plan and permit system. To obtain a permit from the FDEP to operate its facility in accordance with the Clean Air Act, the company had to operate ”baghouse“ air pollutant control systems, which trap, filter and separate particulate matter to minimize its impact on the air.

In the above time frame, the press release said, KMPMT's baghouse systems were in poor condition, and several were not fully operational during the times specified in various permits.

In August 2006 and August 2007, the company's local managers and supervisors falsely told the FDEP in permit applications that it would operate and maintain its air pollution emissions and control equipment in accordance with regulations, though they knew that the baghouses were not being operated and maintained properly.

Also, from October 2006 through March 2008, KMPMT's local managers and supervisors failed to notify the FDEP that its baghouse air pollution control systems were not in compliance and would continue to be out of compliance.

A parallel enforcement action brought by FDEP resulted in an FDEP order for a civil penalty of $331,000. Corrective actions under that order include conducting compliance stack testing on the repaired baghouses, repairing the transfer towers and conveyor systems, creating an employee training program, and implementing a management tracking system to ensure future compliance through testing, record keeping and maintenance.

The company will pay a $750,000 criminal fine, make a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; will serve two years of probation; and will implement an extensive environmental compliance plan.

”There is simply no excuse for this company to break our nation’s environmental laws and hurt the integrity of our regulatory process," said Maureen O'Mara, Special-Agent-in-Charge of the EPA's Office of Criminal Enforcement in Atlanta. "Hopefully, Kinder Morgan will take the steps necessary to be a responsible corporate citizen and ensure that this prosecution is the last. It is imperative that corporations abide by the same rules of law that all citizens are expected to respect."