Exide Technologies faces more than $2.45 million in Texas penalties over violations at its now-closed plant in Frisco, the Dallas Morning News reported today. The penalties are part of a proposal that will be considered at the April 15 meeting of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The six violations issued in 2013 relate to Exide’s handling and storage of hazardous waste at its site along Fifth Street. The state’s proposed agreed order is the latest step in the cleanup process in Frisco, where extensive contamination exists from the plant’s decades of operations. The order also calls for keeping the hazardous waste in the Class 2 landfill on site for long-term monitoring. State regulators say the other option — digging up the waste and transporting it to another permitted facility — is impractical and carries a risk to people and the environment. The state’s action comes on the heels of Friday’s bankruptcy court ruling in Delaware that confirms the company’s plan of reorganization. The confirmation allows the company to emerge from chapter 11 bankruptcy once it meets all of the conditions set out in the plan. Exide has already agreed to the terms in TCEQ’s proposal, including the $2,451,984 penalty.
