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Bill Cosh 608/266-1221
GREEN BAY – Great Lakes Calcium Corporation, which owns and operates a limestone processing facility on the west shoreline of the Fox River near the Bay of Green Bay, has agreed to pay $280,000 to settle state claims under Wisconsin’s air pollution laws. The judgment resolves charges that Great Lakes Calcium violated state air pollution laws and air permit requirements at its Green Bay facility from 2005 to February 2008.
The Great Lakes Calcium facility emits particulate matter in the form of calcium carbonate dust created from the processing and storage of limestone, and from several combustion processes. State statutes require construction and operation permits for these processes to control emissions of air pollutants, and Great Lakes Calcium’s permit set limits on the emissions from these processes and monitoring requirements to ensure compliance.
The complaint charges that Great Lakes Calcium operated in violation of state law and its permit by installing five processes without a permit, exceeding certain permit limits, failing to maintain records and to report deviations, failing to calibrate instruments, and failing to meet stack height requirements.
The violations were discovered in follow-up inspections and information gathering after failed stack tests in 2006 and 2007. New management at the Great Lakes Calcium facility then took immediate and comprehensive steps to come into complete compliance with state law and permit requirements.
Under the settlement, Great Lakes Calcium will pay $180,000 in forfeitures and penalty assessments and costs. In addition, Great Lakes Calcium will pay $100,000 to install and operate broken bag detectors to provide protection against excessive emissions beyond that required by state law.
“Great Lakes Calcium took prompt and complete steps to correct past violations and to ensure future compliance with statutory and permit requirements designed to protect the public from harmful air emissions,” said Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. “The Wisconsin Department of Justice will continue to work with the DNR to ensure that Wisconsin’s citizens and natural resources are protected through compliance with the law.”
Assistant Attorney General JoAnne F. Kloppenburg prosecuted the case. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Kendall M. Kelley approved the settlement.
