Sam Hemingway

Free Press Staff Writer

Lake Champlain Transportation Co. is about to pay a heavy price for what amounts to a paperwork problem involving paint used to maintain its fleet of ferry boats.

Under an agreement announced Monday by the the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the company has agreed to pay $100,000 in penalties to resolve claims it violated Clean Air Act rules regarding the use of paint.

The company "violated the Clean Air Act ... by using paints with hazardous air pollutant contents greater than the allowable limits, failing to keep required records of paint usage and failing to submit a written notification, implementation plan."

Heather Stewart, operations manager for the ferry company, said the firm's mistake was not keeping records that would prove the amount of paint the company used was below the allowable limit.

"We did not have the records to prove we didn't exceed the limit," she said.

Stewart said that, without those records, the EPA assumes the paint was sprayed on the boats 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Stewart said the company spends "a few hours a month" applying paint to its boats at its downtown Burlington maintenance area or at a dry-dock facility at Shelburne Shipyard.

A statement from Lake Champlain Transportation Co. on Monday afternoon said the company was "fully cooperating with the EPA in resolving our noncompliance issues as it relates to record keeping and permitting requirements."

The statement said the EPA on Monday approved the firm's implementation plans.

According to the EPA, the ferry company failed to obtain proper permits to use spray paint guns it purchased in 2005 and 2009 for use in maintaining its boats.

"Many of the chemicals used by Lake Champlain Transportation Co. are both hazardous air pollutants and volatile organic compounds," the EPA statement said. "Exposure ... can cause a variety of health problems."

Contact Sam Hemingway at 660-1850 or shemingway@freepressmedia.com. Follow Sam on Twitter at www.twitter.com/SamuelHemingway.