Attleboro pollution claim is settled for $2.3m

Martha Coakley

The owners of an Attleboro plant that makes coatings for pills and vitamins, candies, produce, and other food products, as well as industrial resins, will pay $2.3 million to settle allegations the plant violated state environmental laws.

Mantrose-Haeuser Co., a subsidiary of Zinsser Co., which is in turn owned by RPM International Inc. in Ohio, will pay $2 million in civil penalties and $300,000 to support two environmental projects. The settlement, made public yesterday, is the second largest ever reached by the state attorney general's Environmental Protection Division.

"We appreciate that they've acknowledged the problem," said Attorney General Martha Coakley, who added that investigators were concerned about smog-forming emissions from the plant. As part of the settlement, $150,000 will be paid to the Attleboro Redevelopment Authority for a Ten Mile River restoration project.

The plant, in a residential neighborhood near Ten Mile River, was cited for several violations by the state, including:

Inaccurately reporting its air-polluting emissions when seeking a permit in the late 1990s.

Using outmoded equipment, including meters that inaccurately recorded solvent use.

Failing to properly store, label, handle, move, recycle, and keep records of its waste.

Plant manager Brian Terando said the company questions the merit of the state's complaints, but has committed to "make things right going forward."

"The state has certainly alleged that the facility emitted dangerous levels of pollutants, however, that facility was, in fact, a small source of regional emissions," Terando said. "And, more importantly, any emissions from the facility have been brought into compliance."

ERIN AILWORTH