Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, et al. v Vemco, Inc., and Venture Holding Co.
LLC.
On April 29, 2003, the DEQ requested DAG assistance in pursuing a claim against Vemco and
Venture in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed on March 28, 2003, in the United States Bankruptcy
Court, Eastern District of Michigan, Case No. 0348940. The DEQ has a claim against Venture and Vemco under Consent Judgment File No. 03-251-CE, which was filed by the DAG on behalf of the DEQ in Ingham County Circuit Court on February 19, 2003. The Judgment provides for the payment of a $194,000 civil fine and for reimbursement of $56,000 in costs for surveillance and enforcement. On May 13, 2003, the Department of Attorney General filed proof of claim on behalf of the DEQ for the $250,000 unsecured priority penalty claim Vemco and Venture owe to the State of Michigan under Consent Judgment File No. 03-251-CE.
On February 14, 2003, the Department of Attorney General filed a complaint and voluntary judicial order against Vemco, Inc. (Vemco), a subsidiary of Venture Holding Co. LLC. (Venture), to resolve alleged violations of Part 111, Hazardous Waste Management, of the Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection Act, 1994 PA 451, as amended (NREPA), occurring at the Vemco Grand Blanc and Grand Rapids facilities. In the complaint, the DEQ alleged that
Vemco improperly characterized waste solvents generated from paint applicator cleaning operations as nonhazardous wastes; improperly treated and disposed of the waste solvents in the facilities’ paint overspray collection systems; and subsequently improperly accumulated, stored, transported, and disposed of wastes removed from the paint overspray collection systems at unauthorized treatment, storage, and disposal facilities.
Under the settlement, Vemco and Venture have agreed to pay a civil fine of $194,000 and the state’s enforcement costs of $56,000. Vemco has agreed to comply with specific hazardous waste and liquid industrial waste statutory and regulatory provisions alleged in the complaint to have been violated and to pay stipulated penalties of up to $2,500 per violation per day in the event those provisions are violated in the future. Independent of the settlement, yet as a result of the enforcement action, Vemco spent over $880,000 to properly dispose of paint sludge removed from the facilities’ paint overspray collection systems as a listed hazardous waste.
Vemco also took action to install additional equipment to collect waste solvents from the facilities’ paint applicators at the Grand Blanc facility and to implement a one-time removal of all of the waste water and paint sludge present in the paint overspray collection systems at both the Grand Blanc and Grand Rapids facilities. Under the Consent Judgment, the state has reserved the right to pursue additional actions to compel Vemco and Venture to implement corrective action under the NREPA in the future in the event that hazardous waste or hazardous waste constituents are determined to have been released to the environment at either the
Grand Blanc or Grand Rapids facility.