Lynn L. Bergeson, “$1.4 Million Civil Penalty for TSCA Violations,” Pollution Engineering, April 2012.

If anyone is thinking big penalties under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) are a thing of the past, think again. On Feb. 7, 2012, EPA announced that the Dover Chemical Corp. has agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at facilities in Dover, Ohio, and Hammond, Ind. The settlement resolves alleged violations of TSCA premanufacture notice (PMN) obligations for the production of various chlorinated paraffins. According to EPA, the company produces the “vast majority” of chlorinated products sold in the United States. As part of the settlement, the company has ceased manufacturing short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCP), which have persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) characteristics.