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U.S., DUPONT SETTLE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWSUIT OVER SULFURIC ACID EMERGENCY IN KENTUCKY

Release Date: 08/02/2000
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WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the EPA have reached a $1.5 million settlement with E.I. du Pont de Nemours related to a 1995 chemical release in eastern Kentucky that led to the evacuation of several communities surrounding the plant. The Delaware-based DuPont will pay an $850,000 penalty and spend about $650,000 to create a state-of-the-art emergency notification system for a 10-county region of Kentucky. The agreement filed today in U.S. District Court in Lexington settles federal claims that DuPont violated federal environmental laws at its Wurtland, Ky., plant. In August 1995, the DuPont facility released more than 23,800 gallons of a sulfuric acid solution into the air over a four-hour period, creating a chemical cloud. Local authorities evacuated more than 1,000 residents from their homes, and several people underwent treatment for burns to their eyes, nasal passages and lungs. DuPont was unable to stop the release, or to minimize it in any way. The Justice Department, on behalf of the EPA, sued DuPont in September 1997, alleging that DuPont failed to maintain a safe facility as required by the Clean Air Act. The charge arose from DuPont's use of cast iron piping in a tank used to store oleum (sulfuric trioxide dissolved in sulfuric acid) and the company's failure to inspect that piping. The oleum solution corroded the cast iron piping, which ultimately fractured on the night of August 20, 1995, leading to the release of sulfuric acid into the air. "Today's settlement with the largest chemical manufacturer in the world shows that no company may ignore its duty to follow industry standards and safely maintain its factories," said Lois J. Schiffer, the Assistant Attorney General for the Environment at the Justice Department. "We will hold companies accountable when they neglect this responsibility." DuPont's own written standard for tanks and piping used for oleum storage, as well as chemical industry standards, indicate that cast iron is an inappropriate material for use in tanks that store oleum. Cast iron is susceptible to corrosion and abrupt cracking when in contact oleum. The Clean Air Act, Section 112(r), provides that companies have a general duty of care to maintain a safe facility, to identify hazards that could lead to accidental releases, and minimize catastrophic releases. The case settled today is one of the first litigated under this provision, which was enacted by Congress following a massive chemical release from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. "This enforcement action reflects the EPA's commitment to ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Clean Air Act to protect human health and the environment from excessive air pollution," said John H. Hankinson, Jr., Regional Administrator for EPA's Region 4 in Atlanta. "We will continue to vigorously use enforcement along with other cooperative approaches that benefit the environment." The government also asserted that DuPont violated provisions of two federal laws that require a company to immediately notify emergency response officials as soon as the company learns about a release of a hazardous substance exceeding a specified threshold. Under today's settlement, DuPont has agreed to upgrade the emergency notification systems for the 10 counties surrounding the Wurtland plant. The company will install a computer and software to create a "reverse 911" system that will allow for immediate telephonic notification of all residents in these counties when there is an emergency such as a chemical release or other public threat. "This new system should go a long way in alleviating some concerns of the citizens of that area," said U.S. Attorney Joseph Famularo. ###