9/22/20: CAFO ISSUED - Respondent develops, manufactures and markets semiconductor materials and electronic devices
made from silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Respondent's Facility is located at 3026 Cornwallis Road, Durham, North Carolina 27709. On June 19, 2019, the EPA and the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) conducted a Focused Compliance Inspection (FCI) at Respondent's facility. On July 30 and 31, 2019 the EPA and NCDEQ conducted a Compliance Evaluation Inspection (CEI) at Respondent's facility. The EPA's findings of the FCI and CEI were documented in a report mailed to Respondent, dated October
3, 2019.
At the time of the July 30, 2019 FCI, the Respondent was generating an N-Methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and spent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) solvent waste mixture as a result of cleaning the surface of silicon carbide and gallium nitride wafers at its facility.
The spent IPA solvent has a flashpoint of less than 140 degrees Fahrenheit and is a D001 characteristic hazardous waste.
At the time of the June 19, 2019, FCI, the EPA inspector discussed the process at the Respondent's facility and requested additional records documenting how the resulting spent NMP and IPA solvent waste mixture was previously managed upon its generation. The Respondent submitted the additional records on July 1, 2019. The records demonstrated that the Respondent had not manifested the spent NMP and IPA solvent waste mixture as a hazardous w