U.S. REACHES AGREEMENT WITH DOMINICKS FINER FOODS
CHICAGO, IL – The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection
Agency today announced they have reached an agreement with Dominicks Finer
Foods LLC to resolve alleged violations of federal regulations to protect
stratospheric ozone.
Under the agreement, Dominicks will take steps that will cut by over 35 tons
future releases of chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants, known as CFCs, that
destroy stratospheric or good ozone. Within two years, Dominicks will
retrofit 23 of its supermarkets in and around Chicago with a system that uses
non-ozone-depleting refrigerant and will retrofit or retire the refrigeration
systems in six additional Chicago-area stores. The company also agreed that,
in any new stores built after the agreement takes effect, it will only install
commercial refrigeration units that use an EPA-approved non-ozone- depleting
refrigerant. The company will pay a civil penalty of $85,000 for alleged past
leaks of ozone-depleting refrigerants.
Todays agreement demonstrates that strong enforcement of our nations
environmental laws results in a much safer environment, said Assistant
Attorney General Tom Sansonetti. The actions Dominicks has agreed to today
will benefit not only the ozone layer, but will also ensure a safer
environment for our future generations.
We commend Dominicks for taking this positive step to protect the
stratospheric ozone layer by agreeing to convert the refrigeration equipment
in all of its stores, said EPA Region 5 Administrator Thomas V. Skinner.
Other steps include development of a plan to manage its refrigerants and
assessment of the companys facilities performance in EPAs Energy Star
Building Program.
The agreement resolves a complaint alleging that Dominicks violated EPA
commercial refrigerant leak repair, testing, recordkeeping and reporting
regulations. This is EPAs first settlement with a grocery store and the first
settlement under the commercial refrigerant leak repair regulations of the
Clean Air Act.
When CFC refrigerants deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, dangerous amounts
of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun strike the earth. Production
of some of these chemicals was stopped in 1995, and federal law strictly
controls their use and handling.
