EPA Fines Two Companies’ New England Plants

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced that it has reached separate settlements with Cintas Corp. and UniFirst Corp. that will require both companies to obtain mandatory Clean Air Act permits that are designed to minimize emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and protect air quality in the communities in which they operate.

The EPA’s news releaseon this matter said that both companies “allegedly failed to obtain air pollution control permits” for a total of 10 commercial laundry facilities in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. In all, UniFirst was fined a total of $309,980 and Cintas was fined a total of $150,000.

UniFirst responded with a statement that raised questions about the EPA’s release. The statement noted that the agency has targeted all industrial laundries in “Region I,” i.e. New England. Moreover, the settlement doesn’t state that the company violated any environmental laws or regulations.

“EPA has stated that each time UniFirst (or other industrial laundry company) had replaced a washer or dryer, it required new air permits that had not been applied for,” the statement said. “That’s because, in theory, the new equipment had the potential (italics in original) to emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) above applicable major source thresholds.

“It should be noted that there is no evidence that emissions at any UniFirst facility ever increased when said equipment was replaced, or that UniFirst’s actual emissions ever exceeded applicable thresholds. In fact, to produce shop towel air emission levels above the applicable thresholds, UniFirst would have had to launder significantly more shop towels than its customers could ever supply to them, or that UniFirst’s current facility operations capacity could ever process.”

Cintas offered a similar clarification in its statement. “The violations with which Cintas was charged involved the absence of pre-construction and operating permits that were required due to potential (underscore in original) emissions from handling soiled shop towels in the laundries at the three facilities.

“Cintas showed EPA that actual emission levels at each of the laundries were a small fraction of the level of potential emissions that triggered the preconstruction requirement. To exceed that trigger level with actual emissions, a single Cintas location would have had to launder more than eight times the total amount of shop towels that Cintas launders in all of New England.”

Both statements said that the respective companies had cooperated fully with the agency’s investigation and had made every effort to resolve its concerns. Other operators with questions about EPA permitting rules and the agency’s “potential to emit” standard for air emissions from laundering soiled shop towels should contact TRSA’s Vice President of Government Affairs Kevin Schwalb at 877.770.9274, ext. 107; or kschwalb@trsa.org.