American supermarket chain Kroger will have to pay a $2,5 million civil penalty and invest an additional $100 million to upgrade its store refrigeration systems after reaching a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a case involving emissions of environmentally harmful refrigerant gases.
The American retail giant has agreed to replace or upgrade approximately 600 refrigeration units over the course of two years, thus avoiding legal disputes related to the management of leaks of refrigerants considered harmful to the ozone layer and the climate.
According to the EPA investigations, which began in 2018, Kroger allegedly failed to comply with its Clean Air Act obligations in several instances regarding repairing leaks, replacing equipment, and properly reporting malfunctions in its supermarkets' refrigeration systems.
The checks mainly concerned the use of R-22 refrigerant, a substance belonging to the HCFC category and progressively eliminated from the US market since 2020 due to its environmental impact.
Specifically, the EPA accuses the group of failing to retrofit numerous systems that exceeded permitted refrigerant leakage thresholds. Prior to 2019, the maximum leakage limit was set at 35%, but was subsequently lowered to 20% for commercial refrigeration systems.
The agreement now includes a comprehensive technological modernization plan, including the introduction of systems using approved, less environmentally impactful refrigerants, such as R-32 and R-454B. Kroger will also be required to implement an advanced leak management and monitoring system, maintaining an average annual leak rate of no more than 9,5%.
“Compliance with the Clean Air Act protects human health,” said Adam Gustafson, deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, emphasizing how repairing refrigerant leaks makes a significant contribution to protecting against solar radiation damage.
The case also brings attention to the issue of energy and environmental sustainability in international large-scale retail trade, with distribution chains increasingly being called upon to improve their store infrastructure to reduce emissions and consumption.
According to a report published in 2024 by the Environmental Investigation Agency, Kroger still outperforms other US retailers in managing refrigerant emissions, though it remains far from the retailers considered to be the most virtuous. The agreement must now be formally approved by a federal court in Ohio.
