Louisiana plant's emissions don't warrant emergency EPA lawsuit, chemical company says

Denka

06/02/2024 20:21

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      Chemical company claims no imminent threat exists from
emissions
    

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      Company says rapid reductions could force the plant to
shutter
    

  
    By Clark Mindock
       Feb 6 (Reuters) - A Denka Co. 4061.T  subsidiary has
told a U.S. court that alleged toxic air pollution from its
southern Louisiana chemical plant does not warrant emergency
action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, claiming the
emissions do not pose an imminent cancer threat to the nearby
community.
    The Japanese company on Monday said the EPA overstepped its
authority when it sought rapid reductions of carcinogenic
chloroprene emissions at the plant under a little-used provision
of the Clean Air Act intended for emergencies. Non-emergency
provisions of that law are available to address concerns at the
plant in St. John the Baptist Parish, the company said in a
motion for summary judgment filing.
    The EPA’s 2023 lawsuit against the subsidiary, Denka
Performance Elastomer, said air monitoring had consistently
shown chloroprene near the plant as high as 15 times the
recommended concentration deemed safe over a lifetime of
exposure.
    The EPA said the facility, a former DuPont plant purchased
by Denka in 2015, poses an “imminent and substantial
endangerment to public health and welfare" in the nearby
community, which is predominantly Black.
    The plant emits chloroprene and other chemicals while
manufacturing synthetic rubbers used in wetsuits, hoses and
other products. But the company said concentrations of the
chemical are well below what would constitute a public health
emergency, and drastic emissions reductions could force the
plant to close down.   
    Denka argued Monday that the court should grant the company
summary judgment in the case, noting it has reduced plant
emissions by 85% in recent years.
    The company said remaining emissions do not pose the type of
immediate threat that would justify invoking Section 303 of the
Clean Air Act, which is intended for emergency public health
matters.
    Jason Hutt, an attorney representing Denka, called the EPA
enforcement effort “unprecedented,” and said a decision in favor
of the EPA would empower the agency to launch similar
enforcement actions against a “wide range of U.S. manufacturers
in the chemical industry.”
    The EPA declined to comment.
    
The case is United States of America v. Denka Performance
Elastomer LLC et al., in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern
District of Louisiana, case No. 2:23-cv-00735  
For the U.S.: Steven Shermer and Daniel Smith of the U.S.
Department of Justice
For Denka: James Percy and Robert Holden Jones Walker, and David
Super and Jason Hutt of Bracewell

 (Reporting by Clark Mindock)
 ((Clark.Mindock@thomsonreuters.com;))