Release Date: 09/25/2014
Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, (415) 947-4149, perezsullivan.margot@epa.gov

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency settled with Veris Gold USA, Inc. for failing to correctly report toxic chemical releases and waste management activities as required by the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. The company agreed to a civil penalty of $182,000.

The violations involved late and incorrect reporting for ten chemical compounds including arsenic, cobalt, copper, cyanide, lead, mercury, nickel, propylene and zinc at Veris Gold USA’s Jerritt Canyon mine located fifty miles north of Eureka in Elko County. Veris Gold USA is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Veris Gold Corp., a Canadian corporation.

Under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, facilities that manufacture, process, or use toxic chemicals over certain quantities must file annual reports estimating the amounts released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management. These reports are submitted to EPA and the State or Tribe with jurisdiction over the facility. EPA compiles this information into a national Toxics Release Inventory database and makes it available to the public. 

The action is part of the EPA’s National Mineral Processing Enforcement Initiative which aims to minimize risks to drinking water and other resources posed by hazardous waste operations at mineral processing facilities.