EPA Fines Ranor $100,000

A company that produces metal products and the corporation that owns it will pay more than $100,000 in federal penalties for environmental violations.

Ranor Inc. and its owner, TechPrecision Corp., violated the federal Clean Water Act by discharging storm water without a permit, according to a statement from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Ranor, which produces metal products for the military, nuclear, aerospace and commercial industries, also violated the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, the EPA said.

“Because the permitting requirements were not followed, the facility also failed to implement ‘best management practices’ to address storm water discharges, and failed to perform required monitoring that would show the quantity of pollutants being discharged into waters of the United States,” the EPA said in its release.

Strom water from Ranor empties into a beaver pond and an unnamed perennial stream, which lead to other bodies of water, the release said.

The settlement includes a $90,635 penalty payment and an additional $15,000 for a supplemental environmental project to buy chemical emergency response equipment that would be donated to Westminster Fire Department, the EPA said.

Stanley A. Youtt, Ranor’s chief executive officer, said in a press release, “The complaint against Ranor is not for discharging chemicals into the waters of the United States.”

Mr. Youtt said not filing paperwork is a serious issue and Ranor management took action immediately after being made aware of these requirements by the EPA in April 2006.

This failure hampers the public’s ability to obtain accurate, quantifiable data about the type and amount of pollutants being released in neighborhoods, the EPA said.

Source: Worcester Telegram & Gazette News; Worcester, MA