NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
April 13, 2009
Vol. 39, No. 146
For further information, contact Ali Mirzakhalili, Air Quality Administrator, (302) 739-9402, or Melinda Carl, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902
Environmental Violations at INVISTA’s Seaford Plant
Resolved Through Consent Decree Filed in District Court
Corrective Actions Will Reduce Air Pollution at Facility
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control today joined the U.S. Department of Justice on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Board in a settlement with INVISTA S.à r.l which resolves environmental violations found through audit at various INVISTA facilities, including the INVISTA-Seaford Plant.
A Consent Decree lodged today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware specifies corrective actions and is expected to result in net reductions in emissions from three boilers at the Seaford plant of 1,029 tons per year of nitrogen oxides; 4,211 tons per year of sulfur oxides; and 269 tons per year of particulate matter. These reductions are calculated from aggregate 2005 and 2006 emissions levels.
INVISTA will pay a civil penalty of $850,000 to EPA and a civil penalty of $500,000 to Delaware. The Consent Decree includes stipulated penalties for noncompliance and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final approval by the Court.
On April 30, 2004, E.I. duPont de Nemours and Company and INVISTA finalized the sale of the DuPont Textiles and Interiors assets to INVISTA. The transaction involved more than 40 sites worldwide. Twelve acquired facilities were located in the U.S., the Seaford, Del. facility and facilities located at: Athens, Ga.; Calhous, Ga.; Camden, S.C.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Dalton, Ga.; Kinston, N.C.; LaPorte, Texas; Martinsville, Va.; Orange, Texas; Victoria, Texas; and Waynesboro, Va.
Following identification and disclosure of certain pre-closing date environmental noncompliance existing at some of the acquired facilities, INVISTA and EPA in July and August of 2004 agreed that, pursuant to EPA’s Policy on Incentives for Self-Policing: Discovery, Disclosure, Correction and Prevention of Violations, INVISTA would conduct audits at the acquired facilities.
The Seaford facility is located at 25876 DuPont Road where synthetic resins and fibers are manufactured. The synthetic fibers are produced as filament yarns. The resin is either used on-site to produce fibers or sold off-site in the form of pellets. The facility currently has seven vaporizers, three boilers capable of burning coal or fuel oil and one package boiler.
The auditors concluded that some projects at the Seaford facility violated the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review Prevention of Significant Deterioration requirements and there were violations of the Clean Water Act, EPCRA (Emergency Planning and Community Right to know Act), RCRA (Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) and FIFRA (Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act). All the violations occurred before INVISTA purchased the Seaford facility from DuPont in 2004.
The most significant violations at the Seaford facility related to the Clean Air Act. Injunctive relief for Delaware in the proposed settlement is aimed at reducing air pollution emissions. Although the Consent Decree provides for other options to meet the pollution reduction targets, INVISTA has sought and obtained permits for the option that will cease coal firing on Boilers No. 1 and 3 and permanently shut down Boiler No. 2.
Additionally, as part of this option, INVISTA is required to install and continuously operate a natural gas-fired boiler with selective catalytic reduction technology for controlling nitrogen oxides emissions. The Consent Decree also specifies certain requirements for utilization of fuels in the seven vaporizers that will result in additional reductions of air pollution emissions.
