EPA, Stockton-based vegetable brining company reach settlement over waste disposal issue

A Stockton-based vegetable brining company has reached a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency after a waste disposal well suffered a mechanical failure last year.

This is the second enforcement action the EPA has levied against SMS Briners Inc., which owns and operates a facility in the 17000 block of East Highway 4.

The company is a part of the EPA Underground Injection Control Program, said Amy Miller, director of the EPA Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division for the agency’s ninth district, which includes Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Pacific Islands and 148 Tribal Nations.

SMS Briners injects an average of 100 gallons per minute of nonhazardous brine waste into an underground well thousand of feet below the surface, according to EPA officials.

In September, the company violated the Safe Water Drinking Act and its EPA operating permit when the inner pipe of its double-walled injection system suffered a leak, Miller said.

SMS Briners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to the settlement agreement, the well began to leak at about 7 a.m. on Sept. 5, with the mechanical failure lasting about 28 hours. SMS Briners reported the incident to the EPA on Sept. 6.

“Part of the problem was that they did not have good monitoring equipment,” Miller said. "So they weren’t aware that they were having problems.”

A drop in well pressure was able to alert the company there was a mechanical issue somewhere in the system, said Eric Magnan, EPA water enforcement manager. The outer pipe of the injection system kept any waste leakage from seeping into ground water.

The well was able to reopen a few days later after the issue was repaired, the agreement says.

SMS Briner has agreed to pay the EPA $6,205 and install a better monitoring system.

Magnan says the EPA is requiring that SMS Briners install a monitoring system that will automatically turn off the discharge when it senses a problem.

“So that if there is a significant change in pressure, that the fluid would just stop being discharged down into the ground,” Magnan said.

In 2006, SMS Briners was fined more than $62,000 for failing to monitor and report activities of its underground injection well.

“Most of us aren't aware of the rich resources we have underground. Whether it’s drinking water, whether it’s our wastewater collection system, there’s a lot happening,” Miller said. “We want people to be aware that EPA is out there protecting water resources and making sure that we are preserving for the future our drinking water supply.”

Contact reporter Cassie Dickman at (209) 546-8299 or cdickman@recordnet.com. Follow her on Twitter @byCassieDickman.