By Alabama Public Radio
Lincoln, AL – The Alabama Department of Environmental Management has fined Honda 50-thousand-dollars for allowing hazardous chemicals to escape into the air. It happened twice last spring at the company's Lincoln plant. In March, Honda discovered a problem with an incinerator. It's designed to destroy hazardous chemicals associated with painting vehicles, and the company decided to shut it down. However, Honda continued painting vehicles for three days. ADEM air division director Ron Gore says that allowed hazardous chemicals to escape. The company repeated the violation in May. Honda says it reported its actions to ADEM and has since replaced the faulty equipment.