Unidentified HPI Products employees take a lunch break in a file photo. The federal government is waiting for a judge’s ruling on a proposed court order that would put the company in the hands of a neutral third party.
Unidentified HPI Products employees take a lunch break in a file photo. The federal government is waiting for a judge’s ruling on a proposed court order that would put the company in the hands of a neutral third party.
A St. Joseph chemical company accused of misconduct continues to operate while the federal government awaits a potential court order that could transfer ownership.
The case against HPI Products has been dormant since July, when the Environmental Protection Agency asked a federal judge to order the company into the hands of a neutral third party.
According to lawsuits filed by the federal and state governments, HPI has no running water but continues to produce dangerous chemicals that sometimes leak into the water supply.
On July 9, lawyers for the federal government asked a judge to appoint a neutral third party to lead cleanup efforts from the company’s alleged chemical spills. Their motion has sat dormant ever since.
Those lawyers didn’t respond to a request for comment, and it’s unclear if or when their request would be granted.
William Garvey, the company’s alleged owner, didn’t respond to a request for comment through his lawyers.
Garvey also didn’t comment in June when News-Press NOW first sought answers about the lawsuit against HPI Products.
However, in court documents, Garvey denied being the company’s owner, though state records indicate he is, or at one time was, the company’s president, secretary, director and registered agent. He’s also named as an owner in the EPA’s lawsuit.
The company also received more than $400,000 from the federal government in a Paycheck Protection Program loan in April of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The money was approved despite ongoing litigation from the government.
HPI had its sewer permit revoked in February 2020, meaning the company isn’t supposed to contribute any waste water to the city’s sewer system. However, the city and federal government say the company isn’t complying.
The city of St. Joseph has launched a separate lawsuit against HPI, hoping a judge will order the company back into compliance with the city’s sewer rules or shut down the company.
HPI has been in litigation with the federal government since 2008. In 2011, the company and the EPA entered into a court supervised settlement that would require HPI to clean up its warehouses and make payments for violating environmental laws.
However, the EPA said in court documents that the company didn’t continually uphold its part of the agreement.
In 2018, the government agreed to drop its request to find that HPI Products failed to uphold the agreement because it said the company was making progress in complying.
But, for a second time, the agreement didn’t last. In June of this year, the government returned to court and asked for a third-party owner to be appointed. The court has yet to rule on that request.
Matt Hoffmann is a our lead investigative reporter. He can be reached at matt.hoffmann@newspressnow.com. Follow him on Twitter: @NpNowHoffmann.
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