Waterford

General Electric Co. will pay a $2.25 million civil penalty for potentially releasing unsafe levels of air pollution, including cancer-causing chemicals, from a hazardous waste incinerator at its former silicone plant in Waterford, under an agreement announced by federal and state officials Wednesday.

A federal complaint, which also was released, revealed that plant workers for General Electric, which operated the Momentive Performance Materials plant off Route 32 from 1947 to 2007, falsified pollution control records for the incinerator that operated unsafely nearly 1,900 times between September 2006 and February 2007.

And the problem, which stemmed from workers disabling a safety system designed to shut down the incinerator if air pollution standards were exceeded, apparently went back years before that. From at least 1992 until February 2007, workers disabled the system "thousands of times" while continuing to run the incinerator, according to the complaint. That could have led to release of hazardous substances, including dioxins and furans, which are known human carcinogens.

The settlement shed light on a early morning raid of the plant June 30, 2009, when federal and state officials swept in and stayed most of the day. Nothing had been filed in court or made public about the nature of the raid until now.

"By operating a system to bypass safety controls, GE put the public and the environment in harm's way," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Grant Jaquith. The complaint also alleged that General Electric knew since "at least as early as 1998" that disabling the incinerator shutdown system violated state law.

The fine will be split equally between the federal government and the state. Based on the number of violations between September 2006 and February 2007, the penalty could have been as much as $60 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina said because the incinerator's pollution sensors were disabled, it was impossible for investigators to prove what levels of dangerous pollution escaped from the plant. He said it also could not be determined whether plant executives were aware of the safety bypass practice, although investigators did find log entry by an incinerator operator in 1998 who refused to perform the bypass because it violated the law.

General Electric issued a statement on the settlement and penalty: "We believe this was a reasonable resolution to the matter. GE fully cooperated with EPA and there were no significant environmental effects." A company spokesman also said GE contested assertions that any of its workers knowingly violated state law.

According to a news release from the U.S. Justice Department, "GE used a computer program to override the incinerator's automatic waste feed cutoff system, allowing GE to continue to burn hazardous waste in the incinerator in violation of its (air pollution) permits. On at least 1,859 occasions during the period of September 2006 until February 2007, GE employees manually overrode the automatic waste feed cutoff system, thereby potentially exposing the public and the environment to harmful hazardous air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, dioxins and furans. Though its employees were violating federal and state law, GE submitted routine compliance reports to the United States and the state of New York falsely attesting to compliance."

In December 2006, General Electric's Advanced Materials business, which included the Waterford plant, was acquired for $3.8 billion by Apollo Management LP, a private-equity fund, but GE continued to operate the plant in 2007. The plant makes adhesives, sealants, resins and water repellents used in the automotive, construction and textiles sectors.

"GE violated the nation's and New York's bedrock environmental laws that were put in place to protect the American public and the environment from harmful air pollution and hazardous materials," said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "This settlement penalizes GE for these violations of law, and represents the combined efforts of the federal government and the state of New York to uphold the law and protect public health."

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said GE "ignored its duty to comply with clean air and hazardous waste laws at the Waterford facility. Today's settlement holds GE accountable for its illegal actions – and reflects my office's continuing commitment to impose significant consequences on any company that puts New Yorkers in jeopardy by breaking environmental laws."

Acting state Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said the GE penalty sent "a strong message that New York state has zero tolerance for those who shirk environmental policies and procedures put in place as protections."

EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck said the air pollution from the incinerator was dangerous. "By overriding the system, GE allowed the hazardous waste to continue to be fed into the incinerator, leading to levels of carbon monoxide that exceeded the permit limits," she said.

Brian Nearing can be reached at 454-5094 or by email at bnearing@timesunion.-com.