DuPont Plant Fined $480,000 for Chemical Release
The consent agreement and final order of the settlement between DuPont and the EPA was filed Sept. 25, about 2½ years after an unannounced inspection found several releases of benzene at levels greater than federal rules allowed.
The Dupont chemical manufacturing plant near New Orleans, LA, has agreed to pay $480,000 and install equipment to stop the release of a cancer-causing chemical from a storage tank and pipe.
The consent agreement and final order outlining the settlement between DuPont and the US Environmental Protection Agency was filed Sept. 25, about 2½ years after an unannounced inspection found several releases of benzene at levels greater than federal rules allowed, stated an AP News article.
The plant is located roughly a 1/2 mile from an elementary school in Reserve, LA, and is within an 85-mile stretch of the state known officially as the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor, or "Cancer Alley" by many.
Daniel Turner, a spokesperson for DuPont Specialty Products, said the release of the chemicals had caused “no impacts to site personnel or to the community.”
“We are pleased to resolve this matter with the U.S. EPA,” Turner said. “From the time the on-site inspection occurred, we have disputed the instrument readings captured by EPA from those of our contractors. However, we have taken immediate corrective actions to resolve the issues identified in the inspection process.”
EPA officials monitored 77 valves and two pumps on the first day of the inspection when they found the violations. They measured 20,100 parts per million of benzene streaming from a vent on a benzene waste tank, and 1,933 ppm of benzene leaking out of a second pressure/vacuum valve.
The inspectors also found an open-ended line from a valve and a second valve in a different location that were leaking about 542 ppm of benzene, just above the EPA limit.
DuPont said its own measurements found much lower benzene levels, but it was still higher than the EPA limit.
Federal law requires major industries to assure that tanks storing benzene have no detectible emissions, which is indicated by readings of less than 500 ppm and visual inspections. The same standard applies to pipelines or valves used to move benzene, but open-ended valves or lines must be capped or plugged.
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