Mass. company settles violations

A Massachusetts company has agreed to pay $17,000 in fines for improperly storing hazardous materials.

Mass. company settles violations  •  By Josh O'Gorman STAFF WRITER - Published: April 3, 2010  •  NORTH SPRINGFIELD — A Massachusetts company has agreed to pay $17,000 in fines for improperly storing hazardous materials.  •  Churchill Coatings Corp. of Grafton, Mass., reached a settlement with the Compliance and Enforcement Division of the Department of Environmental Conservation for violations found at the company's North Springfield facility. The company, founded in 1985, primes and paints lumber and other building materials.  •  "It began with a citizen complaint from a former employee," said John Zaikowski, an environmental enforcement attorney, of the investigation, which began with an inspection in March 2009.  •  The inspector found numerous violations, such as storing containers of waste paints in a tractor-trailer adjacent to the facility since 2005.  •  The containers were not labeled, there was no aisle space between them and the tractor-trailer was not climate controlled, all in violation of environmental regulations. Other violations included lack of fire control equipment, warning signs or daily inspections of the tractor-trailer.  •  The penalty is reached through a series of criteria, such as the impact or potential impact to the public welfare and the environment, as well as how long the violations had been happening and how quickly one works to remedy the problems, Zaikowski said."The violations were very serious and the penalty reflects that, but it also reflects how quickly they (the company) came into compliance," Zaikowski said, noting company officials were cooperative.  •  "We're now complying with everything we're required to comply with," said Fred Churchill, president of Churchill Coatings Corp.  •