THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180496
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 50 lines
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking $24,750 in penalties from a Portsmouth company that allegedly waited three days before telling government officials about a chemical accident in 1994.
Under federal law, Hoechst Celanese Corp. should have immediately called a hot line to inform officials that a suspected cancer-causing compound known as ethylene dichloride was released from its plant on the Elizabeth River, according to an EPA complaint filed last week against the company.
Hoechst Celanese cleaned up the estimated 328 pounds of volatile material, which escaped May 13, 1994, during a transfer from a rail car to a company storage tank, said Bonnie Lomax, an EPA spokeswoman at regional headquarters in Philadelphia.
But two federal laws require instant notification of such potentially dangerous releases, and the National Response Center was not contacted until three days after the fact, EPA alleges in its complaint.
None of the highly toxic material damaged the river, but it may have contaminated the air, according to the EPA and a company spokesman.
Hoechst Celanese, one of the largest industries in Portsmouth, has 20 days to pay the fine or contest the charges in an administrative hearing, Lomax said.
A spokesman for the German chemical conglomerate said Hoechst Celanese had not seen the complaint yet and declined to comment. The spokesman, based in Charlotte, did say that his company found it unusual that the EPA was bringing action more than two years after the accident and a year after completing its investigation.
The EPA calculated the fine based on a penalty formula that considers the amount of chemical released into the environment and the number of hours before authorities were alerted, Lomax said.
The company's Portsmouth plant is located prominently along the Western Freeway Bridge at the mouth of the Western Branch of the Elizabeth River. It manufactures a variety of chemicals, including a super-absorbent polymer used in disposable diapers.
The company spokesman could not say what ethylene dichloride is used for at the plant.
According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the material is poisonous to humans if swallowed. In the air, it causes the eyes and skin to burn, and it is classified as a suspected carcinogen under heavy, prolonged exposure.
The compound used to be added to gasoline to control knocks in cars and trucks. It also was a common solvent years ago, until less toxic alternatives started arriving on the market, according to the institute. by CNB