Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc., dba Whole Foods Market, Settlement
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Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc., dba Whole Foods Market, Settles For $2,500
In March 2021, the California Air Resources Board and Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Markets, Inc., dba Whole Foods Market (“Mrs. Gooch’s”), with its principal location in Glendale, California, reached a settlement agreement in the amount $2,500.
Mrs. Gooch’s owns and operates a Whole Foods Market store that operates a medium sized refrigeration system with a full charge greater than 200 pounds of a high global warming potential refrigerant, and is subject to CARB’s Regulation for the Management of High Global Warming Potential Refrigerants for Stationary Sources.
On September 2, 2020, Mrs. Gooch’s voluntarily disclosed that this store failed to ensure all detected refrigerant leaks were repaired within 14 days of its detection by a certified technician as specified in title 17, California Code of Regulations section 95386(a). The violation resulted in ten days of violations. Mrs. Gooch’s came into compliance quickly, put into place policies and procedures to prevent similar issues in the future, and fully cooperated with the investigation.