DuPont plant in Louisiana fined $480,000 for releasing a cancer-causing chemical

RESERVE, La. -- A chemic manufacturing works westbound of New Orleans has agreed to salary a $480,000 national good and instal instrumentality to extremity nan merchandise of a cancer-causing chemic from a retention vessel and pipe.

The consent statement and last bid outlining nan colony betwixt DuPont and nan U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was revenge Sept. 25, astir 2½ years aft an unannounced inspection recovered respective releases of benzene astatine levels greater than national rules allowed, The Advocate reported.

The works is located astir a half-mile (0.8 kilometer) from an simple schoolhouse successful Reserve, Louisiana, and is wrong an 85-mile (137-kilometer) agelong of nan authorities known officially arsenic nan Mississippi River Chemical Corridor. Colloquially it is called Cancer Alley.

Daniel Turner, a spokesperson for DuPont Specialty Products, said nan merchandise of nan chemicals had caused “no impacts to tract unit aliases to nan community.”

“We are pleased to resoluteness this matter pinch nan U.S. EPA,” Turner said. “From nan clip nan on-site inspection occurred, we person disputed nan instrumentality readings captured by EPA from those of our contractors. However, we person taken contiguous corrective actions to resoluteness nan issues identified successful nan inspection process."

According to nan EPA, benzene has been recovered to origin an summation successful leukemia cases for those occupationally exposed. Women who person inhaled precocious levels of benzene person reported reproductive effects, and semipermanent vulnerability tin besides origin humor disorders. Short-term vulnerability tin origin drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation, and astatine precocious levels tin origin unconsciousness.

EPA officials monitored 77 valves and 2 pumps connected nan first time of nan inspection erstwhile they recovered nan violations. They measured 20,100 parts per cardinal of benzene streaming from a vent connected a benzene discarded tank, and 1,933 ppm of benzene leaking retired of a 2nd pressure/vacuum valve.

The inspectors besides recovered an open-ended statement from a valve and a 2nd valve successful a different location that were leaking astir 542 ppm of benzene, conscionable supra nan EPA limit.

DuPont said its ain measurements recovered overmuch little benzene levels — though still higher than nan EPA limit.

Federal rule requires awesome industries to guarantee that tanks storing benzene person nary detectible emissions, which is indicated by readings of little than 500 ppm and ocular inspections. The aforesaid modular applies to pipelines aliases valves utilized to move benzene, but open-ended valves aliases lines must beryllium capped aliases plugged.

The DuPont installation is located connected nan aforesaid tract arsenic Denka Performance Elastomers, which nan national authorities successful 2023 accused of presenting an unacceptable crab risk to nan adjacent majority-Black community. The DuPont installation makes paraphenylenediamine, aliases PPDA, a chemic it ships to different DuPont works to manufacture Kevlar, utilized successful making bulletproof vests. The installation has astir 280 labor and contractor labor astatine nan site.