EvilCorporations.com | Corporate Accountability Project | EPA Enforcement Record
Heritage Pool Supply Group, Inc. · Clean Air Act Violation · 2024
Heritage Pool Supply Dumped Toxic Chlorine Into the Air Above Frisco, Texas
A pool supply distributor ignored its own safety protocols, stored an extremely hazardous substance outdoors in a Texas hailstorm, and triggered a toxic chemical release in a Dallas suburb.
🔴 HIGH SEVERITY | CLEAN AIR ACT VIOLATION
TL;DR
Heritage Pool Supply Group stored granular calcium hypochlorite, an extremely hazardous chemical capable of releasing toxic chlorine gas, outdoors at its Frisco, Texas facility. On September 25, 2024, a hailstorm compromised those containers, moisture triggered a chemical reaction, and chlorine compounds were released into the surrounding air. A nearby truck caught fire. Heritage’s own internal safety procedures required this chemical to be stored indoors, away from water sources and direct sunlight, yet the company staged the containers outside anyway. The EPA investigated, found Heritage in violation of the Clean Air Act’s General Duty Clause, and levied a $37,240 civil penalty.
Frisco residents deserved to breathe clean air. Instead, a company’s negligence turned a Texas rainstorm into a toxic emergency. Demand that chemical distributors follow their own safety rules.
$37,240
EPA civil penalty assessed
Sept. 25, 2024
Date of toxic chemical release
$472,901
Maximum statutory penalty possible
$59,114
Max penalty per day of violation
30 days
Window to pay penalty after final order
The Allegations: What Heritage Pool Supply Did
Core Allegations
What the EPA found
| 01 | Heritage Pool Supply Group stored calcium hypochlorite, a substance classified as extremely hazardous under the Clean Air Act, outdoors at its Frisco, Texas facility in high-density polyethylene containers placed inside large steel cargo containers staged for customer shipments. | high |
| 02 | On September 25, 2024, hail and rain compromised those outdoor containers, triggering a chemical reaction that released chlorine compounds into the ambient air surrounding the facility, constituting an accidental release of an extremely hazardous substance under the Clean Air Act. | high |
| 03 | A truck parked adjacent to the staged calcium hypochlorite containers caught fire during the incident, and the fire may have been caused or worsened by the compromised chemical containers. | high |
| 04 | Heritage’s own internal Hazardous Materials Transportation and Storage Procedure (revised June 3, 2024) explicitly required that oxidizing and corrosive products be stored off the floor, away from water sources, in a dry cool environment, out of direct sunlight, and below 90 degrees Fahrenheit. The company violated its own written policy. | high |
| 05 | The EPA determined that Heritage’s failure to store hazardous substances indoors and away from water sources constitutes a violation of Section 112(r)(1) of the Clean Air Act, the General Duty Clause, which requires facility operators to identify hazards, design a safe facility, and minimize the consequences of any accidental release. | high |
| 06 | Heritage was subject to the General Duty Clause from the moment it first produced, processed, handled, or stored calcium hypochlorite at the facility. The obligation to prevent accidental releases was not new; Heritage simply failed to meet it. | med |
Public Health and Safety
The chemical hazard and its consequences
| 01 | Calcium hypochlorite, when exposed to heat or moisture, decomposes into chlorine compounds. The EPA classifies chlorine and related compounds as substances that can cause death, injury, or serious adverse effects to human health and the environment when accidentally released into the air. | high |
| 02 | The Clean Air Act’s list of regulated substances recognizes chlorine’s capacity to cause acute toxic effects. Short-term exposures to released chlorine compounds can cause respiratory damage, burns, and in concentrated exposures, death. | high |
| 03 | The September 25, 2024 release occurred at a commercial facility in Frisco, Texas, a densely populated Dallas suburb, placing residents, employees, and nearby workers at potential risk of exposure to airborne toxic compounds. | high |
| 04 | The combination of a chemical release and a truck fire at the same facility created compounding emergency conditions. The truck fire may have been connected to the compromised chemical containers, representing a cascading safety failure. | med |
Regulatory Failures
How corporate negligence met inadequate consequences
| 01 | The EPA did not initiate its investigation until April 17, 2025, more than six months after the September 25, 2024 incident, sending an informal questionnaire rather than launching an immediate field inspection. | med |
| 02 | Heritage was assessed a civil penalty of $37,240, a fraction of the maximum allowable penalty of $472,901. The statutory cap was $59,114 per day of violation. The final penalty amounts to less than one full day of maximum daily fine. | high |
| 03 | The settlement was structured as a Consent Agreement and Final Order in which Heritage neither admits nor denies the specific factual allegations. No individual executives faced personal liability or criminal referral. | high |
| 04 | The only corrective actions Heritage took were operational process changes: stopping the practice of staging calcium hypochlorite containers outdoors and ending overnight truck parking in the unloading dock area. These were changes the company should have had in place from the beginning. | med |
| 05 | The settlement will count as part of Heritage’s enforcement compliance history in any future EPA action. However, the agreement resolves only the specific violations alleged in the consent order, leaving broader compliance questions unanswered. | low |
Corporate Accountability Failures
Who is responsible, and what they got away with
| 01 | Heritage Pool Supply Group is part of the Heritage Family of Companies, a multi-entity corporate structure headquartered in McKinney, Texas. The SRS Distribution, Inc. parent organization held the company’s legal compliance infrastructure, yet dangerous storage practices persisted at the Frisco facility. | med |
| 02 | The company’s own written procedures, last revised in June 2024, three months before the incident, contained clear instructions for safe chemical storage. Management failed to ensure workers followed those protocols, and the lapse resulted in a toxic chemical release. | high |
| 03 | The $37,240 penalty represents a cost of doing business, not a deterrent. For a company distributing pool chemicals at commercial scale across Texas, this fine is unlikely to drive meaningful investment in hazardous materials safety infrastructure. | high |
| 04 | Penalties paid under this settlement are not tax-deductible for federal, state, or local tax purposes. This is a standard provision; it does not change the fundamental inadequacy of the penalty amount relative to the risk posed by the company’s conduct. | low |
Timeline of Events
June 3, 2024
Heritage’s internal Hazardous Materials Transportation and Storage Procedure is revised, explicitly requiring that oxidizing and corrosive products be stored off the floor, away from water sources, in dry conditions below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sept. 25, 2024
Hail and rain compromise calcium hypochlorite containers staged outdoors at Heritage’s Frisco, Texas facility. A chemical reaction releases chlorine compounds into the surrounding air. A truck parked nearby catches fire.
After Sept. 25, 2024
Heritage changes its staging process and parking requirements: it stops staging calcium hypochlorite outdoors and bans overnight truck parking in the unloading dock area. These are the safety practices that should have been in place from the start.
Apr. 17, 2025
The EPA, acting under Section 114 of the Clean Air Act, sends Heritage an informal questionnaire about the September 25 incident. Heritage responds on June 9, 2025.
Aug. 11, 2025
The EPA issues a formal Notice Letter to Heritage, advising the company it may be in violation of the Clean Air Act and offering an opportunity to confer.
Sept. 15, 2025
Heritage representatives provide EPA with a written response to the Notice Letter, including additional information and documentation.
Mar. 11, 2026
Heritage Vice President Dustin Gunderson signs the Consent Agreement and Final Order, agreeing to pay a $37,240 civil penalty and waiving the right to contest or appeal.
Mar. 12, 2026
Acting Regional Judicial Officer Renea Ryland signs the Final Order. Heritage is ordered to pay the penalty within 30 calendar days.
Direct Quotes from the EPA Enforcement Record
QUOTE 1
Heritage’s own safety rules, ignored
Core Allegations
“Product should be stored off the floor (on pallets) and away from any water sources. Keep product in a dry cool environment and out of direct sunlight and under 90 degrees.”
💡 This is Heritage’s own internal written policy, last revised June 3, 2024, three months before the incident. The company violated its own rules by staging the exact same chemical outside, exposed to rain and hail.
QUOTE 2
How the chemical release happened
Core Allegations
“One or more calcium hypochlorite containers, that were staged outside for transportation, were compromised by hail and subjected to moisture from rain early in the morning on September 25, 2024, causing a reaction and release of chlorine compounds.”
💡 The EPA’s own factual finding describes the sequence: outdoor staging, weather exposure, chemical reaction, toxic release. Every step was foreseeable and preventable.
QUOTE 3
A truck fire compounded the emergency
Public Health and Safety
“A truck parked adjacent to the staged calcium hypochlorite caught fire, which may have been related to the containers of calcium hypochlorite being compromised.”
💡 The toxic chemical release and truck fire occurred simultaneously, suggesting the company’s negligence produced cascading emergency conditions rather than a single isolated hazard.
QUOTE 4
The scope of the General Duty Clause obligation
Regulatory Failures
“Owners and operators of stationary sources producing, processing, handling or storing substances listed pursuant to Section 112(r)(3) of the CAA have a general duty to identify hazards which may result from accidental releases of such substances, using appropriate hazard assessment techniques; to design and maintain a safe facility taking such steps as are necessary to prevent releases; and to minimize the consequences of accidental releases which do occur.”
💡 This is the law Heritage violated. It is clear, comprehensive, and not ambiguous. Heritage had a legal obligation to anticipate exactly the kind of weather-related release that occurred on September 25, 2024.
QUOTE 5
EPA’s core allegation of facility failure
Core Allegations
“EPA alleges that Respondent failed to store hazardous substances indoors and away from water sources by staging the calcium hypochlorite containers outside for transportation.”
💡 The violation was not a paperwork error or a technicality. It was a straightforward failure to keep a toxic chemical inside and dry, exactly as Heritage’s own policies required.
QUOTE 6
Why calcium hypochlorite is legally classified as extremely hazardous
Public Health and Safety
“Calcium hypochlorite is a substance due to its ability, when exposed to heat or moisture, to decompose into chlorine compounds, can be defined as an extremely hazardous substance for the purposes of Section 112(r)(1) of the CAA.”
💡 Heritage’s business is built on distributing this exact chemical. The company cannot claim ignorance of its hazard profile. It sells this substance professionally and was legally obligated to handle it safely.
QUOTE 7
How little the penalty is relative to the statutory maximum
Corporate Accountability Failures
“The Administrator may assess a civil penalty of up to $59,114 per day of violation up to a total of $472,901.”
💡 The EPA had authority to fine Heritage up to $472,901. It settled for $37,240. That is less than 8 cents on every dollar of maximum available deterrence, a signal that corporate chemical negligence carries little financial consequence.
Commentary
❓
What exactly did Heritage Pool Supply do wrong?
▾
Heritage stored an extremely hazardous chemical outdoors at a facility in Frisco, Texas, in direct violation of its own written safety policies. When a hailstorm hit on September 25, 2024, the containers were compromised, moisture triggered a decomposition reaction, and toxic chlorine compounds were released into the surrounding air. The company’s internal procedures, updated just three months earlier, were explicit: keep this chemical inside, away from water, and below 90 degrees. Heritage ignored all of that. A truck caught fire. Chlorine released into the air of a densely populated suburb. This was not an unforeseeable accident. It was a preventable consequence of cutting corners on chemical safety.
How dangerous is calcium hypochlorite when it releases into the air?
▾
Very. The EPA classifies it as an extremely hazardous substance precisely because when it decomposes, it releases chlorine compounds into the ambient air. Chlorine is a toxic gas with a documented history as a chemical weapon. Even at lower concentrations, chlorine gas exposure causes respiratory damage, eye and skin burns, coughing, and difficulty breathing. At higher concentrations, it can be fatal. The Clean Air Act’s list of regulated substances was designed specifically to prevent companies from accidentally exposing communities to chemicals like this. Heritage’s negligence threatened the health of workers, neighbors, and anyone downwind of its Frisco facility.
Is a $37,240 fine serious punishment for releasing toxic chemicals into a community?
▾
No. It is not. The law allowed the EPA to fine Heritage up to $472,901. The agency settled for less than 8% of that maximum. For a commercial chemical distributor operating at industrial scale, $37,240 is a rounding error. It does not cover the cost of an independent safety audit. It does not compensate anyone exposed to the chemical release. It does not fund health monitoring for nearby residents. And it sends a clear message to the chemical distribution industry: if you get caught, the bill is small. The settlement neither admits wrongdoing nor requires Heritage to implement anything beyond the operational changes the company had already made on its own.
Why did Heritage have its own safety policy if it wasn’t going to follow it?
▾
That is the right question, and it does not have a good answer. Heritage’s Hazardous Materials Transportation and Storage Procedure was revised on June 3, 2024. Less than four months later, the company was storing the same chemical those procedures were designed to protect against, outdoors, exposed to the weather, in direct violation of every specific instruction in that document. Written safety policies exist on paper. Enforcement of those policies requires management commitment, worker training, and operational oversight. This incident suggests Heritage had the policy but not the culture or the accountability to make it real. The result was a toxic chemical release in a Texas suburb.
Who in Heritage’s leadership signed this agreement?
▾
Vice President Dustin Gunderson signed the Consent Agreement on behalf of Heritage Pool Supply Group on March 11, 2026. No individual executives were personally fined, charged, or named in the order. Heritage’s parent organization, the Heritage Family of Companies, which has a Vice President of Safety, Risk and Regulatory Compliance named Chris Bachman, was copied on the enforcement documents. Despite the existence of a dedicated safety and regulatory compliance executive within the corporate family, the dangerous storage practice that led to the September 2024 release was in place at the Frisco facility.
Did Heritage cooperate with regulators after the incident?
▾
Heritage responded to the EPA’s informal questionnaire, provided documentation, participated in multiple conferences with regulators, and ultimately settled without contesting the order. The EPA factored Heritage’s compliance history and good faith efforts into the reduced penalty. This kind of cooperation is appropriate. But it should not obscure the underlying fact: Heritage created the dangerous conditions that led to the release in the first place. Cooperating with regulators after the fact is the bare minimum, not a shield against accountability for the harm already done.
Does this pattern appear in other chemical distribution companies?
▾
Yes. Chemical distributors routinely handle regulated and extremely hazardous substances with inadequate storage practices, particularly when outdoor staging reduces operational costs and speeds logistics. The Clean Air Act’s General Duty Clause exists precisely because Congress recognized that companies handling dangerous chemicals would cut corners unless legally required to maintain safe facilities. Heritage is not unique in prioritizing distribution efficiency over chemical safety. It is, however, a documented example of what happens when that tradeoff is made and the weather does not cooperate. Texas is not short of hailstorms. Frisco is not a remote industrial zone. These chemicals were being stored improperly in a community.
What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
▾
Several concrete actions make a difference. Contact your federal representatives and demand they push the EPA to increase penalty amounts for chemical release violations under the Clean Air Act. Support advocacy organizations like Earthjustice, the Environmental Defense Fund, and the Sierra Club, which litigate and lobby for stronger chemical safety enforcement. If you live near a chemical distribution facility, request information about what substances are stored there using your rights under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). Report suspected violations to the EPA’s online reporting portal. Share this story, because public awareness of specific corporate misconduct creates pressure that regulatory settlements cannot. The residents of Frisco deserved to know in real time that a company was storing toxic chemicals improperly in their neighborhood.
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