FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1996                          (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                               MARK MACINTYRE ,EPA (206) 553-7302
                                   BILL GLENN, EPA (415) 744-1589
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


    PRICE CLUB PARENT COMPANY ENTERS CLEAN AIR ACT SETTLEMENT


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Price/Costco, the suburban Seattle-based
owner of the popular Price Club nationwide chain of discount
cash-and-carry warehouse stores, today agreed to pay a $232,500
fine to settle allegations that it illegally sold canisters of
CFC and HCFC gas, also known by the trademarked name Freon, to
customers not authorized to handle ozone-depleting substances,
the United States announced.

     In order to reduce harmful emissions, the Clean Air Act
requires that all purchasers of ozone-depleting substances be
properly certified.

     Under the agreement, filed today in U.S. District Court in
Seattle, Price/Costco will pay the civil penalty and institute a
set of procedures at its check-out counters to assure that only
certified customers may purchase ozone-depleting refrigerants.

     "Improper CFC and HCFC sales spell bad news for the ozone
layer and for all of us that it protects," said Lois J. Schiffer,
Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's
Environment and Natural Resources Division.  "We will continue to
vigorously enforce the Clean Air Act's restrictions governing the
handling of these harmful chemicals for the health and safety of
all Americans."

     In a complaint filed with the consent decree, the United
States alleged that several Price/Costco stores located
throughout the country sold more than 1,800 canisters of CFC-12
and HCFC-22 refrigerants without seeing proof that the buyers
were certified to handle ozone-depleting chemicals, in violation
of Clean Air Act regulations.

     Shortly after the regulations took effect in November 1994,
citizens in California and Washington reported the illegal sales
to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  A follow-up
investigation by EPA in January 1995 verified what the citizens
reported: that Price/Costco was selling chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) without asking
customers for proof they were certified to purchase them.
     Price/Costco has long since instructed personnel in all its
stores not to sell the refrigerants unless they first confirm
that the purchasers are certified.
 
     The Clean Air Act requires that only properly certified
individuals may purchase ozone-depleting substances such as
Freon.  These restrictions are designed to reduce emissions of
CFCs and HCFCs.  

     CFCs and HCFCs deplete the ozone layer, which protects the
earth from exposure to harmful ultraviolet radiation.  CFC and
HCFC emissions make their way into the upper atmosphere, known as
the stratosphere, where they consume the thin ozone layer that
protects the earth from harmful ultra-violet B radiation.  One
CFC molecule is capable of destroying over 100,000 ozone
molecules, significantly threatening the component of the
atmosphere that protects humans from ailments such as skin cancer
and conditions that suppress the immune system.
  
     The restrictions were added in November 1994 to the
regulations promulgated under the Clean Air Act as part of the
United States' obligations under the Montreal Protocol, the
international treaty governing ozone-depleting substances.
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96-593