Kaiser Agrees To Pay Emissions Penalty

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty and install environmental controls at its Trentwood plant to settle federal allegations of emissions violations, the company said Monday.

Kaiser does not admit to any violations under the agreement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice.

The agreement, called a consent decree, is subject to the approval of a federal judge, Kaiser spokeswoman Susan Ashe said.

The pact concludes years of talks over federal regulators’ claims of violations at Kaiser’s Trentwood mill in the Spokane Valley from May 1990 to May 1991, Kaiser said.

The talks began after the government threatened to sue, Ashe said.

Federal officials could not be reached for comment. A phone message left Monday at the U.S. Attorney’s Spokane office was not returned, and there was no answer late Monday at the EPA’s Seattle office.

Federal officials maintained Trentwood’s emissions violated opacity regulations governing the appearance of emissions, Kaiser said. There were no apparent violations of particulate standards, the company said.

In addition to paying the $500,000 civil penalty, Kaiser has agreed to complete a $20 million program that began in 1990 to update environmental controls to its Trentwood remelt operation.

In the remelt process, molten aluminum is cast into ingots prior to finishing. The plant, which employs 1,427, makes flat-rolled aluminum products.

The upgrade program is due to be completed next year.

Tests have shown particulate emissions from Trentwood to be well within federal and state requirements, Kaiser said.