Trinity’s last Forest Products Sector Enews discussed
recent enforcement actions specific to kraft pulp mills, with a particular focus on findings related to Leak Detection and Repair (LDAR) programs. As previously summarized, recent EPA kraft pulp mill actions have included civil penalties ranging between $120K – $350K as well as one example including a supplemental environmental project of at least $2.1 million. EPA’s recent scrutiny on kraft pulp mill LDAR programs stems in part from the agency’s experience enforcing LDAR within other sectors such as petrochemical. To understand what EPA could be focusing on in kraft pulp mill audits, a look at enforcement activities in other industries with LDAR requirements is informative. The most common enforced on items in other industries with LDAR requirements are the following:
- Method 21 being conducted incorrectly.
- Not enough time spent monitoring equipment (too many components monitored in one day by one person)
- Numbers of leaking components found by EPA higher than the facilities
- Not utilizing the correct calibration gas
- Not utilizing the correct monitors for Method 21
- Not conducting calibrations, calibration precisions, and response time tests as required
- Not monitoring insulated valves
- Monitoring
- Not conducting the monitoring within the required timeframes (e.g., monthly, every 3 months, quarterly, every two quarters, semiannually, within 12 months, annual, etc.)
- Delay of repair provisions
- Placing items on delay of repair that do not qualify
- Not having proper documentation
- Not completing the repairs during next process unit shutdown
- First attempt of repair/repair
- Not conducting physical repair
- Not conducting the required monitoring
- Not meeting the regulatory timeframes
- Component identification
- Not including all components in the program
- Including components that should not be in the program.
- Recordkeeping
- Not documenting all monitoring events
- If there is no record of monitoring whether required to be recorded or not, assumed the component was not monitored
- Not documenting exemptions
- Not documenting visual inspections
- Reporting
- Not submitting the required information in the reports
- Discrepancies between the number of components monitored and what is reported.
Based on EPA’s LDAR inspection and enforcement record, it is clear that EPA’s perspective is that kraft pulp mills may not be treating LDAR requirements with the level of rigor they expect, as demonstrated through their enforcement actions and leveled penalties. Kraft pulps mills have been subject to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) Subpart S LDAR requirements for more than twenty years. But the reality is that EPA has evolved in their expectations and interpretations of LDAR requirements since first implemented at kraft pulp mills, and their expectations may not align with how your mill handles LDAR on a day-to-day basis.
