HARTFORD, Conn. -- The state has filed suit accusing American Cyanamid Co. with illegally discharging thousands of gallons of industrial waste from its Wallingford plant, officials said Wednesday.
The chemical company was cited for eight discharges of wastes into the Quinnipiac River watershed this year without a permit from the state Department of Environmental Protection, officials said.
The discharges included a July 10 release of about 3,000 gallons of water containing latex and a July 17 release of about 3,000 gallons containing formalin-urea products, the attorney general's office said.
The suit also charged the company with failing to properly operate and maintain its waste water treatment system and failing to comply with certain provisions of its DEP permit from May 1987 to April 1990.
The state is seeking a court order prohibiting additional illegal discharges and requiring the company to take steps to correct sources of pollution at the Wallingford plant.
The suit also seeks fines of up to $10,000 per day for violations before Sept. 30, 1989, and up to $25,000 per day for each violation after Oct. 1, 1989, officials said.
American Cyanamid, which is based in Wayne, N.J., manufactures chemicals and drugs.
The state two years ago reached a settlement of another suit accusing Cyanamid of hazardous waste violations and operating an illegal landfill.
Under the settlement, Cyanamid agreed to pay a $90,000 penalty and was obligated to close the landfill, Attorney General Clarine Nardi Riddle said in a statement.
'I'd like to know when this is going to end,' Riddle said. 'I would like to think that this company realizes that compliance with all our environmental laws is required and we will take appropriate legal action whenever it isnecessary to insure that compliance.'
