The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency signed an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with Watco Terminal and Port Services (Watco), to resolve the December 18, 2018, Notice of Violation (NOV), which was issued for excessive manganese emissions from the company's bulk solid material handling facility at 2926 East 126th Street in Chicago.
This ACO requires Watco to remove all bulk solid manganese at the facility by January 31, 2020 and to continue to conduct air monitoring for particulate matter 10 microns or less and metals, including manganese, for six months after all bulk solid manganese is removed from the facility. The air monitoring shall terminate after six months as long as the 12-month rolling average concentration is at or below 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter (g/m3), which is the minimal risk level set by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry for manganese. The 12-month rolling average manganese concentration is 0.216 g/m3 (October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2019).
During the course of settlement negotiations, manganese concentrations decreased at the facility. The decrease in manganese concentrations resulted from Watco ceasing handling and receiving new bulk solid manganese while continuing to decrease their on-site inventory. This ACO addresses the violations set forth in the NOV issued to Watco on December 18, 2018.