May 17, 2004

DEQ Director Steven E. Chester today announced that the DEQ, with assistance from the Department of Attorney General, has entered into a court ordered settlement with CH Smith Company (Company) to resolve violations of an existing administrative Consent Order. The Company has been ordered by the Ingham County Circuit Court to pay a past due settlement amount of $12,698.80, plus interest, and stipulated penalties totaling $300,000 for failure to perform required emissions testing, including failure to submit the required emissions test plan and test report. In addition, the court granted $20,534.75 in attorney fees and enforcement costs.

CH Smith operates three portable nonmetallic mineral crushing plants in the northern Lower Peninsula. On March 26, 2002, the Air Quality Division entered into an administrative Consent Order with CH Smith Company, Inc., to resolve permitting, opacity, and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) subpart OOO testing violations. Under the provisions of the consent order, CH Smith was to pay a $10,000 settlement amount, perform NSPS OOO testing, and provide complete, accurate, and timely relocation notices for its plants, among other things. On July 3, 2003, a civil complaint was filed in Ingham County Circuit Court when the Company violated virtually all provisions of the Consent Order.

Editor’s note: DEQ news releases are available on the department’s Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

Revised May 17, 2004 by Pat Watson