Fibre giant Invista is to pay a US$1.7 million civil penalty and spend up to an estimated $500 million to correct self-reported environmental violations, discovered at facilities across the USA, according to a joint announcement by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Justice Department.
The company disclosed more than 680 violations of water, air, hazardous-waste, emergency planning and preparedness and pesticide regulations to the EPA after auditing 12 facilities it acquired from DuPont in 2004.
“By correcting these violations, Invista will reduce harmful air pollution by nearly 10,000 tons per year,” said Catherine R. McCabe, acting assistant administrator of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Invista is making a clean start in a settlement that achieves significant environmental benefits, and we encourage other new owners to do the same.”
The joint statement says the emission reductions resulting from correcting these violations will result in estimated annual human health benefits valued at over $325 million, including 30 fewer premature deaths per year, 2,000 fewer days per year when people would miss school or work, and over 9,000 fewer cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms.
The settlement resolves violations disclosed under Invista’s corporate audit agreement with the EPA. Invista conducted 45 separate audits of environmental practices and compliance at facilities located in Seaford, Delaware, Athens, Calhoun, and Dalton, Georgia, Kinston, North Carolina, Camden, South Carolina, Chattanooga, Tennessee, LaPorte, Orange, and Victoria, Texas, and Martinsville and Waynesboro, Virginia.
As part of its corrective action, Invista will install pollution-control equipment to treat air pollutants at four of its plants, while at others is has agreed to improve control of benzene wastes.
This is the largest settlement under the EPA’s audit policy, which was launched in 1995. The policy provides incentives to companies that voluntarily discover, promptly disclose, and expeditiously correct environmental violations. The companies must also take steps to prevent future violations.
The EPA may reduce or waive penalties for certain violations if the facility meets the conditions of the policy. Consistent with the audit policy, EPA waived a large portion of the penalty in this case.