EPA reaches agreement with Kerry on clean-air violations

CHICAGO - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has reached an agreement with Kerry Inc. on alleged violations of EPA regulations to protect stratospheric ozone at the company's bread crumb manufacturing plant at 100 E. Washington St., Millstadt, Ill.

The agreement, which includes a $169,822 penalty and an $811,097 environmental project, resolves EPA allegations that Kerry failed to repair refrigeration equipment that leaked excessive amounts of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. In addition, EPA said the company violated testing, notification, retrofitting, replacement and retirement planning requirements for the equipment.

For its environmental project Kerry will replace ozone depleting refrigerant used in refrigeration equipment at its Jackson and Sturtevant, Wis., plants with non-ozone depleting refrigerant.

When CFC refrigerants deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, dangerous amounts of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun strike the earth. Production of some of these chemicals was stopped in 1995, and federal law strictly controls their use and handling.