9/3/14 - Costco Wholesale Corp, the nation?s second largest retailer, has agreed to cut its emissions of ozone-depleting and greenhouse gas chemicals from refrigeration equipment at more than half of its stores nationwide.
In the settlement announced today by EPA and DOJ, Costco will pay $335,000 in penalties for federal CAAct violations and improve refrigerant management at 274 stores at an estimated cost of $2 million over the next 3 yrs.
?Cutting harmful greenhouse gas emissions is a national priority for EPA, and this settlement will lead to significant reductions of an ozone-depleting gas that is 1,700 times more potent than carbon dioxide,? said Cynthia Giles, asst administrator for EPA?s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. ?Fixing leaks of refrigerants, improving compliance and reducing emissions will make a real difference in protecting us from the dangers of ozone depletion, while reducing the impact on climate change.?
Costco violated the federal CAA by failing to repair leaks of the refrigerant R-22, a hydrochlorofluorocarbon and a powerful ozone-depleting substance, between 2004 and 2007. Costco also failed to keep adequate records of the servicing of its refrigeration equipment, required by the CAA to prevent harmful leaks.
Under the settlement, Costco will implement a refrigerant management system to prevent and repair coolant leaks and reduce its corporate-wide average leak rate by one-fifth (from 24% in 2011 to 19% or less by 2017). Costco will