A manufacturer of organic chemicals in Nashua, N.H. will pay $32,000 to settle EPA claims that it violated federal hazardous waste laws by improperly diluting a hazardous waste. According to the EPA's New England office, the Hampshire Chemical Corp., a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Co., violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in 2004 by failing to determine the proper treatment for a 40-percent monomethylamine waste solution, and by improperly diluting the chemical with water. The agency claimed that the company improperly diluted the solution, which is an extremely flammable substance, as a substitute for the required treatment standards.

“Failing to follow federal hazardous waste laws make it more likely that dangerous materials are improperly disposed,” said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of the EPA's New England office. “People working with hazardous substances should not improperly dilute wastes as a way to treat them before disposal.”

Hampshire Chemical, which formerly made organic chemicals for use in shampoos and other personal care products, discontinued manufacturing in July 2004. The company notified the EPA that about 800 gallons of the 40-percent monomethylamine solution remained in an on-site tank after the company had stopped manufacturing operations at its Nashua facility.

The company also said it had diluted the waste with water until it comprised about 19,000 gallons of a solution that was 1.68-percent monomethylamine. The company said that it had diluted the solution so that the chemical was no longer ignitable, and planned to discharge the waste through its onsite wastewater treatment system. The plant's permit, however, did not allow this type of discharge.