The Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission on Friday upheld a $25,920 civil penalty for a food packaging company that installed a machine at a factory in Paragould without approval from the Department of Environmental Quality.
Th e depa rtment had proposed a $52,974 penaltyagainst St. Louis-based Hermann Companies Inc. for failing to seek approval for the machine.
The company’s air-pollution permit authorized it to have eight of the machines. The department said it discovered the ninth machine during an inspection in 2009.
The company contendedthat its emissions did not exceed the amount allowed under its permit, so approval was not required.
In a Jan. 25 ruling, administrative hearing officer Charles Moulton sided with the department but calculated a lower penalty.
The commission unanimously approved the ruling on Friday.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 16 on 02/23/2013