ORANGE, Texas — A recent settlement is requiring two chemical companies to pay more than $3 million in penalties and address violations of environmental laws in Orange County.
The settlement involves E.I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company, and Performance Materials NA, Inc. The U.S. Department of Justice, the Eastern District of Texas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, filed a joint complaint on October 13.
DuPont and PMNA will be required to conduct compliance audits, control benzene emissions, and perform other duties to address environmental violations at the PMNA Sabine River chemical manufacturing facility in Orange. The companies will also pay a $3.1 million civil penalty and attorney’s fees to the State of Texas.
“The Eastern District of Texas is a proud home to numerous natural resources including lakes, rivers, and streams, which span the district,” said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei for the Eastern District of Texas. “We are also home to some of the leading names in industry. Generally, these two co-exist harmoniously. However, when industry violates applicable laws and harms the environment, the Eastern District of Texas is committed to taking steps to hold that actor accountable and require better compliance in the future.”
The measures are in place to benefit Southeast Texas communities affected by pollution by reducing uncontrolled emissions of hazardous air pollutants and unpermitted discharges from the facility, according to the release.
Under the settlement, an independent third party will conduct audits to review the facility’s compliance with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, and the Clean Air Act, as well as related state laws and regulations.
In the joint complaint, the EPA and the State of Texas claimed the former DuPont facility, now owned and operated by PMNA, violated the waste, water, and air environmental laws. PMNA is a subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company and DuPont.
“The petrochemical industry must operate in compliance with environmental laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “We will continue to hold operators accountable to address pollution from industrial operations that violate the law, such as those at the Sabine River facility, and to enhance public health and the environment, particularly in surrounding communities overburdened by industrial pollution.”
- The alleged Resource Conservation and Recovery Act violations include failure to make hazardous waste determinations, the treatment, storage, or disposal of hazardous waste without an RCRA permit, and failure to meet land disposal restrictions.
- The alleged Clean Water Act violations include unpermitted discharges of process wastewater in violation of the facility’s Texas Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits.
- The alleged Clean Air Act violations include failure to comply with the national emission standards for hazardous air pollutants for benzene waste operations and for miscellaneous organic chemical manufacturing for certain waste streams.
“This settlement ensures proper management of hazardous wastes, requires a comprehensive review of the facility’s environmental compliance across all media and ensures cleanup of contamination from past operations,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Larry Starfield of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “This case not only benefits the environment but demonstrates our commitment to advancing justice and equity to communities across Texas.”
The settlement will also require the companies to conduct soil, sediment, or groundwater sampling to determine the extent of contamination within and from certain surface impoundments, the release says. They will perform this sampling and necessary cleanup work according to the Texas Risk Reduction Program.