EPA and FilmTec have reached a settlement agreement to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at FilmTec?s water filter manufacturing plant in Edina, MN. The terms include injunctive relief and a cash penalty of $250,000.
FilmTec owns and operates a campus in Edina, Minnesota, for the manufacture of water filtration products, primarily reverse-osmosis filters for domestic and commercial use. The facility operates under a Title V Permit with a facility-wide emission limit for volatile organic compounds (VOC) of 235 tons per year (tpy), making it a synthetic minor source under the program for the Prevention of Significant Deterioration of Air Quality (PSD). EPA alleges that FilmTec violated provisions of its Title V Permit by exceeding its facility-wide VOC limit and that FilmTec violated provisions of the PSD program by commencing constructing of a major modification to a major stationary source without first obtaining a PSD permit. In addition, EPA alleges that FilmTec did not use the method required by its Title V Permit to show continuous compliance with emissions limits for VOCs and Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs).
These violations caused excess emissions of VOC, which contributes to ground level ozone. Ground level ozone irritates the human respiratory system and reduces lung function.
Under the agreement, Filmtec will: (1) move production from uncontrolled Lines 200 and 300 to the newer, and well-controlled line 600, followed by decommissioning of lin