What $25,000 Cannot Repay

Girard, Ohio is a small city in Trumbull County, in the part of northeastern Ohio that gets called the Rust Belt when politicians want to sound sympathetic and gets forgotten the rest of the time. The median household income in Trumbull County sits well below the national average. The air quality in this region has a documented history of industrial stress. The people who live near Furnace Lane did not choose to live next to a scrap metal shredding facility. For many of them, it is simply where they can afford to live.

Volatile organic compounds are not abstract regulatory concepts. They are real chemicals. They include compounds like benzene, toluene, and a range of hydrocarbons that come off shredded automobile parts, including fuel residue, fluids, and plastics that have soaked into old car bodies for years. When those cars go through a shredder running at up to 108 gross tons per hour, with 30 to 50 percent of the material being scrapped automobiles, the VOCs don’t stay in the facility. They move with the air.

Short-term VOC exposure can cause headaches, dizziness, eye and throat irritation, and nausea. Long-term exposure to certain VOCs is associated with liver and kidney damage and cancer. Particulate matter, which accompanies shredding operations, penetrates deep into lung tissue. These are not industry-lobby talking points in reverse; they are what the EPA’s own scientific record shows. The community near the Girard facility was not told their neighbor was potentially emitting over 100 tons per year of VOCs without the federal permit that would have required pollution controls to exist at all.

Here is what was not in any permit: a production limit. A requirement to operate a VOC control device. A VOC emission limit. The 2020 state permit Ohio EPA issued to the Girard facility, based on Metalico’s own applications claiming zero VOC emissions from the shredder, contained none of those protections. Not because they were considered and waived. Because the company told the state the shredder produced zero VOC emissions, and no control requirements followed from zero.

The people in the surrounding area did not have access to EPA emission factor tables. They did not know about the 2021 enforcement alert that specifically warned the metal shredding industry about this exact problem. They were not at the table when Metalico’s representatives sat down with the EPA on August 26, 2024, to discuss the Notice of Violation. They were not parties to the consent agreement. Their names appear nowhere in the settlement. The $25,000 goes to the federal government, not to the community that breathed the air for years while the permits were wrong.

The consent agreement concludes by stating that it “resolves only Respondent’s liability for federal civil penalties for the violations and facts specifically alleged in this CAFO.” Every other exposure, every other question, every other consequence for the people who live near Furnace Lane in Girard, Ohio remains unresolved by design.

What the Documents Actually Say

Every quote below is pulled verbatim from the EPA Consent Agreement and Final Order, Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036, filed with the Regional Hearing Clerk on May 27, 2025. Nothing here is paraphrased.

“The 2019 permit applications identified the potential to emit VOC from the Shredder as zero (0) tons per year.” Stipulated Fact 35, CAFO Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036

• This is the core of the case stated in a single number. Metalico told Ohio EPA the shredder produced zero VOC emissions. If regulators accept what you submit, and you submit zero, you do not get emission limits, you do not get required controls, and you do not get a federal Title V operating permit. Zero is the number that built a paper wall between this facility and accountability.
• EPA’s own subsequent calculation, using an emission factor of 0.39 lbs of VOC per gross ton of scrap processed along with Metalico’s actual infeed rates, found that actual annual VOC emissions from 2021 to 2024 did not exceed 100 tons. However, the potential to emit, based on maximum infeed rates and maximum automobile percentage, was found to exceed 100 tons per year. The distinction matters: “actual” emissions determine day-to-day exposure; “potential to emit” determines which federal permits are legally required.

“On July 1, 2021, EPA published an enforcement alert (Alert) titled ‘Violations at Metal Recycling Facilities Cause Excess Emissions in Nearby Communities.’ The purpose of the Alert was to notify metal recycling facilities with shredders that volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from their shredders may trigger regulatory applicability.” Stipulated Fact 29, CAFO Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036

• The EPA put the entire industry on notice in July 2021. The alert was public. It was specifically about shredders. It specifically named VOC emissions. Metalico’s facility in Girard, Ohio was operating a shredder. The EPA inspected the Girard facility on October 25, 2023, more than two years after the alert. The document does not explain what Metalico did, or did not do, in the intervening 27 months.

“The 2020 PTIO for the Shredder does not include a production limit, a requirement to operate any VOC control device, a VOC emission limit pursuant to the Ohio BAT Rule, or any other VOC emission limit.” Stipulated Fact 37, CAFO Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036

• This sentence is the operational consequence of the zero-emissions claim. The state permit that was actually in force, the one Ohio EPA issued in June 2020, contained no production cap, no pollution control requirement, and no emission limit. That permit remains active through June 8, 2030.
• This means that even after the EPA’s enforcement action, the underlying state permit still contains none of those protections. The CAFO itself notes it “is not a ruling on, or determination of, any issue related to any federal, state, or local permit.” The state permit fix is a separate process entirely.

“Metalico has operated and continues to operate the Facility with an unlimited potential to emit in excess of 100 tons per year of VOC without obtaining a Title V permit in violation of Section 502 of the Act.” Alleged Violation, Section E, Paragraph 42, CAFO Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036

• The phrase “continues to operate” appears in the present tense in the allegations section. As of the filing of this consent agreement, the alleged violation was ongoing, not historical. Metalico signed the agreement neither admitting nor denying the violations of law, while admitting the underlying facts.
• A Title V permit is not a technicality. It is the federal framework that sets all emission requirements for major sources. Operating without one means operating without the full weight of federal air pollution law applied to your facility.

“Nothing in this CAFO relieves Respondent of the duty to comply with all applicable provisions of the CAA and other federal, state, or local laws or statutes, nor does it restrict the EPA’s authority to seek compliance with any applicable laws or regulations, nor is it a ruling on, or determination of, any issue related to any federal, state, or local permit.” Paragraph 63, CAFO Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036

• This boilerplate paragraph is doing significant work. It confirms that paying the $25,000 does not resolve the permit issues. The underlying state permit still has no VOC controls. The Title V permit is still not in place. The consent agreement closes the civil penalty case, and only that case.

Who Pays When the Permit Is Wrong

Public Health

The community living near the Girard facility faced years of potential exposure to unregulated VOC emissions from a shredder processing up to 108 tons of scrap per hour, with no legally required pollution controls in place.

• Volatile organic compounds include benzene and other hydrocarbons that carry well-documented risks: short-term exposure causes respiratory irritation, headaches, and dizziness; chronic exposure is linked to liver damage, kidney damage, and increased cancer risk, particularly leukemia from benzene exposure.
• The shredder processed scrap automobiles at 30 to 50 percent of total material volume. Scrapped vehicles contain residual gasoline, motor oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid, and degraded plastics, all of which release VOCs when shredded at industrial speeds.
• The EPA’s own 2021 enforcement alert confirmed that shredder VOC emissions were causing “excess emissions in nearby communities” across the United States, a national pattern that the Girard facility fit directly. Communities near such facilities were experiencing documented air quality violations before this alert, and the alert itself confirms the harm was known industry-wide.
• No emissions testing or air monitoring data from the surrounding residential area appears in the consent agreement. The document records what the shredder could emit, not what the neighbors actually breathed over four-plus years of operation.

The 2020 state permit for the shredder contained no production limit, no VOC control requirement, and no emission limit. It was built on a zero.

Economic Inequality

The financial architecture of this settlement places the entire burden of cost on the federal government’s enforcement budget and nothing on the community absorbing the health risk.

• Girard is in Trumbull County, Ohio, a post-industrial region where economic alternatives are limited and proximity to industrial facilities is a consequence of income, not choice. The people most exposed to the shredder’s air emissions are among the least positioned to relocate, seek medical care for chronic respiratory conditions, or mount independent legal action.
• The $25,000 penalty flows to the federal government, not to community health funds, air monitoring programs, or any form of remediation for affected residents. This is standard EPA administrative penalty procedure, but it means zero dollars reach the neighborhood.
• Metalico purchased the Girard facility in December 2020 from Liberty Iron and Metal, Inc. The permit problems originated in 2019 applications. The acquisition transferred ownership of the facility and, with it, the ongoing permit violations into new hands. No corrective permit action was taken at the time of acquisition or in the years following.
• Maximum statutory penalty under the Clean Air Act for violations of this type is $124,426 per day per violation. If the alleged violations ran from when the shredder first triggered regulatory applicability through the October 2023 inspection, even a fraction of maximum penalties would represent tens of millions of dollars. The settlement was resolved for $25,000, a figure the EPA determined appropriate after considering “Respondent’s cooperation.”
• The consent agreement notes the EPA and the Department of Justice jointly determined this matter, despite involving alleged violations more than one year old, was appropriate for administrative rather than judicial penalty assessment. An administrative penalty proceeding caps exposure significantly compared to a federal civil action, and Metalico waived all appeals.

The Number That Tells the Whole Story

Who to Watch and What to Do

The consent agreement is signed, the $25,000 is paid, and the federal civil penalty case is closed. The underlying permit problems, including the absence of a Title V federal operating permit and the absence of any VOC control requirements in the active state permit, are not resolved by this settlement. Here is who holds the levers going forward and what people in and around Girard can do.

Named Parties in the Settlement

• Kevin Whalen, President, Metalico Youngstown, Inc.: The company signatory on the consent agreement. The facility continues to operate under his leadership with the 2020 state permit still active through June 8, 2030.
• Michael D. Harris, Division Director, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, EPA Region 5: The EPA official who authorized the settlement terms. EPA Region 5 retains authority to pursue further enforcement if permit violations continue.
• Ann L. Coyle, Regional Judicial Officer, EPA Region 5: Signed the Final Order on May 23, 2025, making the settlement legally binding.

Regulatory Watchlist

• EPA Region 5 Air Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Branch: The office that brought this case. Contact: R5airenforcement@epa.gov. Region 5 covers Ohio and has direct enforcement authority over Title V permit compliance. Residents can submit complaints about air quality directly to this office.
• Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (OEPA): Issued the 2020 PTIO and is the state permitting authority. The current state permit contains no VOC controls. OEPA must be the body that revises the underlying state permit to include emission limits and BAT controls. OEPA received the July 2024 Notice of Violation as a co-recipient.
• EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO): The public database where all enforcement actions, inspections, and compliance histories for facilities like Metalico Youngstown are posted. Docket No. CAA-05-2025-0036 should appear there. You can track what happens next at this facility.
• U.S. DOJ Environment and Natural Resources Division: If Metalico violates the terms of the consent agreement, the EPA can refer enforcement to the DOJ, which can pursue civil judicial penalties of up to $124,426 per day per violation.

What Residents and Organizers Can Do

• File a formal air quality complaint with EPA Region 5 at R5airenforcement@epa.gov and with Ohio EPA. Documented community complaints create a paper trail that strengthens future enforcement cases and makes it harder for agencies to treat violations as administrative-only matters.
• Request air quality monitoring near the Girard facility through Ohio EPA’s Office of Air Quality. Community groups can petition for ambient air monitoring near facilities with known or suspected VOC emissions, particularly in environmental justice areas with documented pollution burdens.
• Connect with environmental justice organizations active in northeast Ohio, including Buckeye Environmental Network and Ohio Citizen Action, which track industrial pollution cases in Trumbull County and can amplify community pressure on both state and federal regulators.
• Track the Title V permit application process. The CAFO does not order Metalico to obtain a Title V permit on any specific timeline; it only resolves the civil penalty. When (or if) Metalico files a Title V application, it will be a public document subject to public comment. That comment period is a direct opportunity for community input on required controls.
• Mutual aid matters here too. Neighbors with respiratory conditions, especially those who cannot afford specialist care, benefit from community health funds and shared resources. Local mutual aid networks in Trumbull County can help bridge the gap that $25,000 worth of federal enforcement never reaches.