NEW YORK CITY — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is charging the City of New York and the New York City Sanitation Department with continuously violating the Clean Air Act by knowingly releasing CFCs when disposing of appliances.

According to the complaint, the defendants have been violating Section 608 since 1992 by not removing refrigerants which contain CFCs, and by not verifying that the refrigerants had been removed from the appliances.

The government is also charging the defendants with continued violation since 1994 of a compliance order issued by EPA to discontinue their improper disposal practices. The agency is seeking civil penalties of $27,500 per day for the past violations.

According to an EPA statement, “Given the City’s failure to properly address this important issue in the past, the federal government felt it necessary to pursue this legal action, and expects it will result in increased environmental awareness on the part of city administrators.”