Alcoa Unit to Pay $5.25 Million for Hazardous Mercury Emissions

An Alcoa Corp. unit agreed on Thursday to pay the government $5.25 million to settle Clean Air Act violations at a now-shuttered aluminum smelter in Ferndale, Wash.

Intalco Aluminum LLC operated the plant, and allegedly failed to inspect and maintain records of its facilities, and allowed uncontrolled emissions containing, among other toxins, mercury and polycyclic organic matter, the government said in its complaint. Intalco and the government settled the suit in a concurrently filed consent decree.

The complaint, filed on behalf of the EPA, included descriptions from a 2019 agency inspection of faulty equipment that allowed emissions to leak and ...