EPA Requires Chemical Safety Improvements at Stockton Facility
STOCKTON, Calif. (Aug. 19, 2025) — Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement with the California Ammonia Company (CALAMCO) for claims of violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA). CALAMCO stores and distributes anhydrous ammonia for various agricultural operations to produce fertilizers. The facility also manufactures, stores, and distributes smaller quantities of aqueous ammonia to agricultural producers. Under the terms of the settlement, CALAMCO agreed to undertake significant chemical safety improvements and pay a penalty of $460,465.
“Protecting communities, local firefighters and other emergency responders from chemical accidents is a top priority for EPA,” said EPA Region 9 Administrator Josh F.W. Cook. “Anhydrous ammonia is an extremely dangerous substance and needs to be dealt with as such. It is of the utmost importance that facilities like this one follow the law and ensure safety measures are in place.”
Anhydrous ammonia is an effective refrigerant, but can cause serious, often irreversible health effects when released. In addition to potential impacts from inhalation or skin contact, the chemical is highly flammable.
EPA inspected CALAMCO’s Stockton facility in March 2022, and determined there were numerous violations of the CAA Section 112(r), also called the Risk Management Program (RMP), and the General Duty Clause, including:
- Failure to test and maintain critical ammonia refrigeration equipment, necessary to both prevent and quickly respond to incidents.
- Failure to properly label ammonia refrigeration equipment and document the equipment complied with industry safety standards, crucial to the safe operation of the equipment and to reducing the risk of ammonia release.
- Failure to provide training for employees on proper operating procedures, a key component to maintaining safe operation of the equipment.
- Failure to conduct an adequate process hazard analysis, a requirement designed to analyze and reduce the risks associated with the ammonia refrigeration system.
An underestimate of the quantity of ammonia that could be released in an incident and failure to document the population that could be affected by such an incident. These measures are necessary for first responders and community members to adequately prepare for potential accidents.
CALAMCO has been cooperative in working to significantly improve its RMP throughout 2023 and 2024 as part of this settlement. The company has corrected equipment deficiencies, properly labeled ammonia processing equipment, updated its operating procedures, and performed a new process hazard analysis, among other improvements.
For more information on reporting possible violations of environmental laws and regulations visit EPA’s enforcement reporting website.
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