WILLIAMSPORT – The Department of Environmental Protection has fined GKN Sinter Metals Inc. $5,200 for illegally discharging oily wastewater from its powdered metal products manufacturing plant in Emporium, Cameron County. The discharge was discovered in March 2008.
“This had been a continuing problem since it was first discovered by DEP inspectors late last March, but it wasn’t until November that GKN found the probable source of the discharge,” said DEP Northcentral Regional Director Robert Yowell.
DEP staff first noticed the oily sheen at a stormwater drain along GKN’s parking lot that discharges to the Driftwood Branch Sinnemahoning Creek.
In November 2008, GKN staff located the probable source of the problem as a leak of coolant and rust prevention chemicals from a machine in its plant. The sump and pit associated with the machine were cleaned and sealed by GKN maintenance staff in January.
The company must now begin a study to characterize the contamination on its property and clean it up properly so that it meets standards established in Act 2, the Land Recycling Program, which encourages the voluntary cleanup of contaminated industrial sites.
The oily discharge was a violation of the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law. The law prohibits unauthorized industrial wastewater discharges to the commonwealth’s waters.
The fine was paid to the Clean Water Fund, which is used to help pay for cleanups across the state.
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