Company receives 'largest-ever' penalty under initiative after illegally smuggling refrigerant into US: 'A powerful ... pollutant'
A new initiative from the Environmental Protection Agency to stop planet-warming gases from being imported into the United States has caught a major offender.
Resonac America was found to have brought hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) into the country on four occasions between 2023 and 2024, and it will now have to pay a $416,003 penalty, according to a report from E&E, shared by Scientific American.
It's said the fine is the "largest-ever" issued under the initiative, and Resonac America will also have to destroy the HFCs it illegally imported.
HFCs are used in refrigerating systems, air conditioning, foam insulation, aerosols, and fire extinguishers, but they have been banned because of the warming effects the gas can have on the planet.
"HFCs are a powerful climate pollutant, so it's imperative that companies importing them into our nation do so in strict accordance with environmental laws," EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said, per E&E.
According to E&E's report, the EPA said the enforcement "prevents approximately 6,208 pounds, or 2.816 metric tons, of illegal HFCs from being imported into the United States." This would be equivalent to releasing 41,677 metric tons (46,000 tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, or what would be produced by powering 8,225 homes for a year using dirty-fuel-generated electricity.
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Resonac imported 6,208 pounds of illegal HFCs between October and December in 2023, violating a law concerning bringing bulk orders of regulated chemicals into the country without necessary allowance. It also failed to disclose a February 2024 order.
The National Enforcement and Compliance Initiative on Mitigating Climate Change only came into force in 2020, but in late 2023, a San Diego man became the first to be prosecuted after smuggling refrigerant into the United States from Mexico with the intent to sell.
Reducing the use of HFCs is important to slow the rate of rising global temperatures, as the Climate & Clean Air Coalition reported they account for 2% of planet-warming pollution. That's why the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol has called for the production and consumption of the gases to be reduced by 80% by 2050.
Driving an electric car, relying on renewable sources for energy, and eating more plant-based meals are personal changes we can make to reduce the levels of polluting gases entering our atmosphere.
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