NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
July 2, 2008
Vol. 38, No. 310
For further information, contact Paul Foster, Division of Air and Waste Management, 302-323-4542 or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
DNREC Issues $10,000 Notice of Penalty to Noramco, Inc. of Wilmington for Air Pollution Violations
Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary John A. Hughes issued a Notice of Administrative Penalty Assessment and Secretary’s Order to Noramco, Inc. for violations of the Delaware Code and Delaware environmental regulations in an incident involving operator error. The Order includes a cash penalty of $10,000 and an additional $1,500 as cost recovery reimbursement to the Department for expenses associated with its investigation.
Noramco, which uses restricted narcotics to produce pharmaceutical ingredients, owns and operates a facility at 500 Swedes Landing Road in Wilmington that consists of six plants: Plant 3, Plant 4, Plant 5 (formerly known as the East Plant), West Plant, West Plant Tank Farm, and Wastewater Treatment Plant. Noramco’s West Plant manufactures controlled substances such as morphine and codeine from imported poppy straw concentrate using solvents including methylene chloride, which is classified as an air contaminant and a hazardous air pollutant under Delaware law.
Under the Delaware Code, Noramco’s operations are subject to Title V permit requirements due to its potential to emit volatile organic compounds exceeding 25 tons per year and hazardous air pollutants exceeding 10 tons per year of one type or 25 tons per year combined of more than one hazardous air pollutant. However, the company elected to accept enforceable operating limitations and requirements in order to obtain a synthetic minor permit.
On May 29, 2007, as part of a manufacturing process, an operator in the West Plant was purging methylene chloride from a column (a vertical tank used to separate materials) by applying nitrogen pressure via a regulator. The operator had observed the regulator reach the target pressure and left the area. However, the regulator had been manually adjusted to a full open position and as a result the pressure continued to rise after the operator left until it ultimately caused a rupture disk to burst.
The operator was unaware of the damage and as per the process began adding methylene chloride back into the column. An investigation determined that due to the burst rupture disk, 835 pounds of liquid methylene chloride was released onto the roof of the West Plant where it evaporated into the atmosphere. The Department issued a Notice of Violation on July 2, 2007.
Noramco has 30 days to request a public hearing before the Order becomes binding.
