California Air Resources Board

SACRAMENTO – The Air Resources Board (ARB), part of the state's Cal/EPA, and the Imperial County District Attorney have reached a $125,000 settlement with a local resource recovery for violations of local air quality rules.

Imperial Resource Recovery Associates (IRRA) agreed to the settlement for permit violations at their electrical power generating facility in the City of Imperial that were uncovered during an ARB audit of the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District last March. In light of the current economic conditions, the settlement will be paid in 10 monthly installments to ease the financial burden on IRRA.

The ARB inspected the plant, which burns agricultural waste to generate electrical power, as a routine part of the audit but found the violations that led to excessive nitrogen oxide emissions. The facility also violated emission limits for sulfur oxide and for the density of smoke plumes, largely because of the poor operation of its fuel handling and storage operations.

The facility was also cited for inaccurate operation of an in-stack monitor.

The settlement is the third in recent weeks between the ARB and local Imperial County officials over excessive air pollution emissions. Earlier this month, the ARB and Imperial County District Attorney reached enforcement settlements with American Girl Mining Company, Winterhaven for $75,000 and Ryerson Concrete of El Centro for $8,000, the first such settlements ever in the county for violations of air pollution laws.