California firm breaches environmental legislation

A California company that allegedly breached environmental legislation by failing to submit required toxic chemical reports has reached a settlement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Performance Coatings, which specialises in the ceramic coating of heaters and exhaust components in Ukiah, California, will pay $48,600 (£29,100) to the EPA for actions which constitute a violation of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act.

Enrique Manzanilla, the communities and ecosystems division director for the EPA's Pacific Southwest region, said that firms which use toxic chemicals should provide complete and accurate information about them "so that area residents are aware of possible chemical hazards in the community".

The company regularly uses these chemicals, such as xylene and ethylbenzene - which can cause fatigue, weakness and memory loss in humans - in its paint and coating manufacturing operations, but failed to submit timely, complete reports to the EPA and the state detailing how much it processed between 2004 and 2006.

Written by Joseph Hutton