Essroc to Pay $82,000 Penalty for Failing to Report Lead

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that Essroc Cement Corporation has agreed to pay a $82,000 penalty to settle alleged violations of toxic chemical reporting requirements at its manufacturing facility in Nazareth.

During a June 2011 inspection, it was revealed that Essroc failed to submit three years of required reports on a regulated toxic chemical -- lead -- which was processed at the facility.

The plant processes lead as part of the manufacturing process for bulk and packaged cement.

From 2006 through 2008, EPA said in a press release, the Nazareth facility processed lead in amounts in excess of 130,000 pounds annually, exceeding the 100-pound reporting threshold.

Essroc has been cited for violating the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), which requires companies that manufacture, use or process more than a threshold amount of listed toxic chemicals to file an annual toxic chemical release form with EPA and the state.

These reports, according to the release, are used to compile the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), a publicly available EPA database, searchable by zip code, that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities.

Lead and lead compounds are regulated under EPCRA due to the public health effects of ingestion or inhalation of lead, particularly among children.