FAG Bearings Inc. (USA,a division of privately-held Schaeffler Holding, Germany) has reached a final agreement and consent decree with the Missouri Attorney General's office to end a protracted and expensive environmental pollution and cleanup case involving its Joplin plant

The decree involves a total of $183,000 in fines and an agreement to follow a remediation plan laid out by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).

To date, FAG has also had to pay significant expenses to settle suits and pay for new water systems.

The complaint against FAG bearings and its Joplin, Missouri plant dates to 1991 when private water wells in the Silver Creek Village area were found to be contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE). Later that year, well water samples from two miles away in Saginaw were also found contaminated by TCE.

FAG's Joplin bearing plant was implicated because the facility used TCE as a degreaser from 1972 to 1982, and because the contaminated wells were located immediately south of the FAG property line. FAG unsuccessfully tried to include a Gulf States / International Paper plant in the complaint, but GS / IP did not use TCE and was exonerated in 1998.

FAG used TCE in the process of manufacturing steel balls for ball bearings. In its investigation, the EPA alleged FAG workers not only improperly dumped TCE, but also that the allegedly "closed system" actually spilled more than 40 tons of TCE: of the 551 55-gallon drums of TCE were delivered between 1972 and 1982, only two drums of TCE were sent by FAG for hazardous waste disposal. When it stopped producing balls in 1982, use of TCE at the plant also stopped.

In operation since 1970, FAG Joplin's 250,000 square foot plant has moved beyond ball bearings to manufacture both industrial and automotive bearings; today, the factory produces not only ball and roller bearings but also more than 2 million 2nd and 3rd generation wheel bearing hub units per year.

Once the contaminated wells were found, the EPA capped many wells and supplied the affected Silver Creek and Saginaw residents with bottled water until all were connected to the piped-in city water system by 1994.

FAG eventually agreed to pay for most of the additional Saginaw water system costs and settled with Silver Creek. In late 1998, the MDNR and FAG signed an agreement requiring FAG to investigate the contamination; and FAG agreed in 2000 to another consent order to conduct another study of the ground water contamination around its Joplin plant.

The selected remedy involves "Monitored Natural Attenuation" and "Land Use Controls," augmented by an "In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Contingency plan" if the first two do not reduce contamination levels within five years.

Monitored Natural Attenuation involves simply allowing the contamination to degrade naturally. Samples are taken at regular intervals to monitor the natural attenuation process.

Land Use Controls involve minimizing human exposure and protecting the integrity of the remedy. No new wells will be permitted in the area, and cross-contamination will be monitored. Also, there is a monitoring system to ensure the existing contaminated wells remain sealed.

In-Situ Chemical Oxidation Contingency is a plan which would go into effect to reduce ground water contamination if levels do not drop within the next five years.

Links to the official documents are here:

    •   EPA 2004 Record of Decision Approved

    •   EPA Newton County Wells Site Description

    •   ATSDR Public Health Assessment and FAQ

FAG's insurance company did not pay the fines or litigation losses, following a suit to that effect.

Of the $183,000, the MDNR will receive $48,659 for expenses; $130,724 will go to Missouri for natural resource damages; and $4,664 will go to Missouri for environmental damage assessment costs.

As a contaminant, TCE is relatively easy to deal with. For example, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) report listed above indicates TCE evaporates extremely quickly out of water, making well water relatively safe for most outdoor uses, that plants and vegetables watered with TCE-laced water do not build up accumulations of TCE, and that the human body will normally flush all traces of TCE within a week after exposure ends. Its instability is what makes it useful as a solvent. However, the primary environmental and potentially carcinogenic problem with TCE is that it "sticks" to contaminants in water and the soil, and tends not to evaporate from those contaminants.

For more detail about trichloroethylene, see the Racer Burac Wikipedia description here.