BOSTON — AmeriPride will pay $75,000 as part of a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) following the agency’s claims that the company “failed to seek air permits and control emissions between 1988 and 2013, when it installed new industrial washers and dryers” for laundering shop and print towels at its Worcester, Mass., and Hartford, Conn., facilities.
EPA says AmeriPride “cooperated” in reaching the settlement.
In a statement to American Laundry News, AmeriPride says the fines concerned “potential” harmful emissions, and that “there is no evidence that the plants were actually emitting harmful levels of VOCs.”
“In fact, we believe that because we are a mixed laundry processing a relatively small amount of print towels, the emissions were not at a level that would meet the requirement for permits,” the company says.
AmeriPride adds that the settlement concerns past operations, as the Hartford plant is no longer in operation, and print towels are no longer processed at the Worcester plant.
“We are confident that we have the proper permits for our ongoing operations at other processing plants,” the company says.
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