Intalco Aluminum agrees to $5.25 million penalty for hazardous pollution violations at Ferndale
Intalco Aluminum, the company that operated the shuttered aluminum smelter in Ferndale, has agreed to pay $5.25 million as part of a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The settlement stems from Clean Air Act violations discovered during a 2019 EPA inspection of the site that revealed “a significant number of instances from 2017 to 2020 when the facility failed to maintain and operate air pollution control systems and exceeded emission limits,” according to an EPA news release issued Tuesday.
The inspections also revealed hundreds of instances when the facility failed to comply with monitoring requirements, work practice standards, and record-keeping and reporting requirements, according to the news release.
“The violations resulted in excess emissions of particulate matter and hazardous air pollutants such as carbonyl sulfide, hydrogen fluoride, polycyclic organic matter, metals (e.g., lead, nickel and manganese), and mercury. Exposure to hazardous air pollutants can cause cancer and other serious health impacts,” the release states.
Closure of the site that once employed more than 1,300 people ultimately came in March 2023 because the smelter “lacks access to competitively priced power and would have required significant capital expenditures to restart,” Alcoa said at the time.
Operations began at the site in 1966. In 1984, the smelter shipped a record 286,000 tons of the strong, durable and lightweight metal, which is key to the production of aircraft and consumer goods such as refrigerators, air conditioners and cooking utensils.
Intalco has applied for a permit to demolish its former Intalco Works smelter site, Whatcom County Planning and Development Director Mark Personius told the County Council on Tuesday.
The demolition permit requires a State Environmental Policy Act review, a process that could take two to three years, Personius said.
“While most of us breathe some level of air pollution, some communities have been exposed for decades to pollutants in the air, the water, and on land,” said EPA Region 10 Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Director Ed Kowalski in Monday’s news release.
“EPA has prioritized the protection of these communities from facilities that violate laws meant to protect people from industrial pollution. While the Intalco facility is not currently operating, any new operation there should be aware that EPA will do everything it can to enforce environmental and public health laws to protect nearby Ferndale residents.”
Intalco Aluminum LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcoa Corporation, is the owner and operator of Alcoa Intalco Works, which became fully idle in October 2020 due to unfavorable market conditions and announced permanent closure in March 2023. Intalco surrendered its Title V Air Operating Permit in December 2023.
This story was originally published July 23, 2024 at 4:09 PM.
