Chemical plant securityDow fined $2.5 million for violations at Michigan chem plant
Due to environmental and safety violations at its chemical plant in Midland, Michigan, Dow Chemical will have to pay $2.5 million in fines; federal inspectors found that the chemical plant violated air, water, and waste regulations between 2005 and 2007
Dow Chemical's Midland plant // Source: mlive.com
Due to environmental and safety violations at its chemical plant in Midland, Michigan, Dow Chemical will have to pay $2.5 million in fines. Federal inspectors found that the chemical plant violated air, water, and waste regulations between 2005 and 2007.
Inspectors found several problems including cracking and pitting in structures that kept hazardous materials from being released into the environment as well as failures in testing, monitoring, leak detection, recordkeeping, and reporting for many environmental regulations. Dow claims that some of the violations occurred because the company interpreted regulations differently than the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
In contrast, the Department of Justice and EPA maintain that Dow’s failure to comply with regulations could have led to the release of hazardous air and water pollutants. In particular, the plant is located near the Tittabawassee River and pollutants could have contaminated its waters.
“Today’s settlement with Dow will reduce the potential for future violations and protect communities from emissions of hazardous air pollutants,” said Cynthia Giles of the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
The violations have since been corrected. The negotiated settlement has yet to be finalized as it must face public comments and gain approval.
In a statement, Earl Shipp, the vice president of Michigan Operations, said, “While there has been no harm to human health or the environment with regard to these findings, we have taken corrective action and implemented measures to prevent recurrence.”
The EPA and state regulators are also working to settle past violations from the plant which resulted in extensive dioxin and furan contamination in the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers, as well as Saginaw Bay. The chemical plant has been sued by several residents with properties along the contaminated water ways.
