Imposition of the fine does not necessarily mean all of the money will be collected, but James Staples, a spokesman for the DEP, said his agency was treating CP Chemicals "in the most rigid way possible."
He also noted that, before this action, the largest civil administrative penalty ever levied by the DEP was $3 million, while the largest fine ever collected was $1.45 million.
"This is supposed to show the rest of the industries out there that DEP is whacking a big stick," Staples said.
NEW PLANT
George Tyler, an attorney for CP Chemicals, called the DEP action "grossly unfair," noting that the company had spent the last three years and at least $2.5 million building a new wastewater treatment plant to purify its discharge.
He denied that the company's discharge posed a threat to the water but said that, in response to the DEP order, CP Chemicals had ceased production operations that generate wastewater, while assessing the firm's legal options.
CP Chemicals, an inorganic metal finishing and chemical manufacturing facility, has been a target of complaints from some environmental groups. One, the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group, also accused the DEP in a blistering report last year of being slow to take action against CP Chemicals and other alleged water polluters, turning the state into a "polluter's playground."
According to Staples, the order yesterday followed an eight-month investigation that began after DEP discovered discrepancies between discharge reports submitted by the company and results from the laboratories CP Chemicals used to have its samples analyzed.
