Conservation Law Foundation to Sue Scrap Metal Company Over Polluted Runoff in R.I., Three Other States
October 21, 2024
PROVIDENCE — The Conservation Law Foundation said it plans to sue Sims Metal, which has locations in Providence and Johnston, for Clean Water Act violations at eight scrap metal facilities on the East Coast. The company’s stormwater runoff regularly pollutes nearby rivers and other waterways with toxic metals such as lead, copper, and zinc, according to CLF.
“The heavy metal pollution from these Sims Metal facilities poisons our rivers and nearby communities. It is illegal and it is harmful,” said Chelsea Kendall, staff attorney at CLF. “Sims Metal needs to follow the law and get their stormwater runoff under control, because everyone has a right to clean water.”
The Sims Metal facilities identified in CLF’s lawsuit as releasing polluted stormwater, in addition to those in Rhode Island, are in New Haven and North Haven, Conn.; Long Island City, N.Y.; and Baltimore and Rockville, Md.
“Most of these facilities are located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color where residents are already burdened by pollution,” according to CLF. In Rhode Island, one of the Sims facilities is on Allens Avenue, in Providence’s Washington Park and South Providence neighborhoods. For residents there, the sights, sounds, and toxic smells of the industrial businesses on the avenue have plagued their lives for decades.
“Every time it rains, toxic metals from the piles of uncovered broken and rusted metal at these sites flow into waterways and their tributaries,” according to CLF, including the Providence River in Rhode Island, the West and the Quinnipiac rivers in Connecticut, the East River in New York, and the Back and Potomac rivers in Maryland. Heavy metal runoff causes poor water quality, harms natural ecosystems and aquatic life, and causes health problems in humans when ingested.
In a statement to ecoRI News, Patti Doyle, a spokesperson for Sims Metal, said the company is aware of the notice letter provided by the CLF “making allegations with respect to stormwater at certain Sims Metal facilities. We will be reviewing the letter and evaluating CLF’s allegations.
“Sims Metal takes its stormwater regulatory obligations seriously and has developed a robust storm water management program,” Doyle said. “Sims Metal’s three Rhode Island facilities have not received a stormwater notice of violation for at least the past five years. In addition, Sims Metal has invested more than one million dollars in stormwater upgrades at its Providence export facility since acquiring it in 2011 and continues to work diligently to comply with stormwater requirements.”
CLF’s notice of intent to sue can be found here.
This isn’t the first time Sims’ local operations have been in trouble. In a 2020 settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, Sims’ Johnston location on Green Earth Avenue agreed to come into compliance with state and federal clean air requirements and to pay $250,000 in penalties, according to the EPA.
Before being fined, the facility, which had been in business for about seven years, was operational despite not having an operating license or an air pollution permit.
The EPA, in concert with Rhode Island’s attorney general and the Department of Environmental Management, alleged that Sims built a new major source of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) without securing a permit and without installing required emission controls — a violation of the state’s clean air “state implementation plan,” the mechanism under which states and the EPA ensure that air quality attains national health-based standards.
A Rhode Island Superior Court judge finalized a consent judgment in September 2020 under which Sims paid a separate penalty to the state and will take all steps necessary to come into compliance with air permitting and air pollution control requirements.
The metal shredder that Sims owns and operates at its Johnston location shreds end-of-life automobiles, appliances, and other metal-bearing materials. This 7,000-horsepower shredder generates enough heat to melt or burn the plastics, paints, and oils in the scrap metal materials, causing harmful air emissions of VOCs, particulate matter, and toxic air contaminants.
The blame for all of this rests squarely on the shoulders of the local and state agencies that have failed to enforce compliance from the very beginning. It was allowed to operate for nearly a decade without permits and has continued to operate while violating as many laws as it could. While at the same time if I were to operate a burn barrel in the back yard the full weight of the law would fall on me. It’s high time to let the regulators know that they either act in the public interest or they get fired.