Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based company Trident Seafoods will pay USD 23 million (EUR 20.2 million) in an effort to fix air pollution caused by its ships and facilities on land, according to an Associated Press report.
The company will pay an additional USD 900,000 (EUR 794,336) fine for violating the Clean Air Act, according to a settlement filed earlier this week at a federal court in Alaska.
Leakage from ozone-depleting coolants used in Trident’s refrigeration systems caused more than 200,000 pounds of harmful greenhouse gases to be released into the air, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Although companies are legally required to fix such leaks within a month’s time, Trident allowed the leaks to go on for years.
The USD 23 million (EUR 20.2 million) will be spent to repair 23 refrigerators used on 14 vessels, and to install leak detectors. Trident also agreed to promptly repair such leaks going forward.
The settlement is subject to comments from the public and approval from a federal court.
The company, founded in 1973, also paid a USD 2.5 million (EUR 2.2 million) fine to the EPA in 2011 and spent more than USD 30 million (EUR 26.4 million) to better treat its wastewater at its Alaskan seafood processing plants. The fine was the largest-ever assessed by the EPA to an Alaskan seafood processor and, according to the EPA, Trident’s dumping of waste into the ocean had created a “massive carpet of gelatinous goo” that covered a portion of the ocean floor the size of 38 football fields.
Last year, Trident twice paid additional fines to the EPA for illegal environmental activity in Alaska and in Oregon.
Trident did not respond to the Associated Press’ call seeking comment.
