The settlement resolves the suspected violation of hazardous waste, air and water environmental laws at the PMNA Sabine River chemical manufacturing plant in Orange, Texas.
The US Department of Justice, the Eastern District of Texas, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality (TCEQ) announced a settlement with EI DuPont de Nemours and Company (DuPont) and Performance Materials NA, Inc. (PMNA).
The settlement resolves the suspected violation of hazardous waste, air and water environmental laws at the PMNA Sabine River chemical manufacturing plant in Orange, Texas.
According to the Department of Justice, DuPont and PMNA will conduct compliance audits, control benzene emissions, and implement other injunctive relief to resolve violations of the facility.
The defendant will pay $3.1 million in civil fines and attorney fees to the state to benefit nearby contaminated communities. The relief will also reduce uncontrolled emissions of harmful air pollutants and unlicensed emissions from the facility’s surface reservoirs.
Represented the EPA and the State of Texas filed a joint complaint on October 13. Regarding DuPont and PMNA’s alleged violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), Section 7.002 of the Texas Water Act, and the former DuPont’s Applicable regulations to file claims are now owned and operated by PMNA facilities.
According to the Department of Justice, the alleged RCRA violations include failure to identify hazardous waste, handling, storage or disposal of hazardous waste without RCRA's permission, and failure to meet land disposal restrictions. The alleged CWA violations included unauthorized discharge of treated wastewater and violation of the facility’s Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The alleged CAA violations include failure to comply with national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants produced by benzene waste operations and miscellaneous organic chemicals in certain waste streams.
"Operations in the petrochemical industry must comply with environmental laws," said Todkin, Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources at the Department of Justice, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice. "We will continue to require operators to be responsible for solving the pollution caused by industrial operations that violate the law, such as pollution from the Sabine River factory, and to strengthen public health and the environment, especially in surrounding communities where industrial pollution is overburdened."
In addition, an independent third party will conduct a multimedia compliance audit to review the facility's compliance with RCRA, CWA, and CAA, as well as state laws and regulations.
The defendant will also monitor and control benzene emissions and pH levels in wastewater, and conduct soil, sediment or groundwater sampling to determine the degree of pollution.
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