Safeway Settles Case Over Refrigerant Leaks

Safeway, the second-largest grocery store chain in the U.S., has agreed to pay a $600,000 penalty and implement a company-wide plan to significantly reduce its emissions of ozone-depleting substances from refrigeration equipment at 659 of its stores nationwide. The settlement resolves allegations by EPA that Safeway violated the Clean Air Act by failing to promptly repair leaks of HCFC-22, a hydrochlorofluorocarbon that is a greenhouse gas and an ozone-depleting substance used as a coolant in refrigerators. EPA says the company also failed to keep adequate records of the servicing of its refrigeration equipment. In addition to establishing a company-wide program to ensure compliance with federal regulations protecting stratospheric ozone, Safeway has agreed to meet specific targets for improving its environmental performance. According to the agency, the measures that Safeway has committed to are expected to prevent more than 100,000 lb of future releases of ozone-depleting refrigerants.