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The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and RBT-Golden Ridge Rice Mills, Inc. (“RBT”) entered into a January 12th Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing an alleged violation of an air permit. See LIS No. 21-003.

The CAO provides that RBT owns and operates a rice mill (“Mill”) in Wynne, Arkansas.

DEQ personnel are stated to have conducted a compliance inspection of the Mill on June 26, 2019. The reporting period for the inspection is stated to have covered July 2018 through June 2019.

The CAO provides that at the time of the inspection it was indicated that the Mill had three unpermitted milled grain storage bins. Such bins allegedly violate Specific Condition 16 of the permit.

DEQ is stated to have informed RBT of the alleged violation in a letter dated July 15, 2019. RBT responded in a letter dated July 31, 2019, that the Mill was actively working to include the grain storage permits into the air permit. Further, DEQ is stated to have received an Administrative Amendment Application on August 28, 2019, requesting inclusion of the three bins to the current air permit. DEQ approved the Administrative Amendment in a letter dated September 20, 2019.

RBT neither admits nor denies the factual and legal allegations contained in the CAO.

The CAO assesses a civil penalty of $3,600 which could have been reduced by one-half if the document was signed and returned to DEQ by December 14th.

A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.