“A West Elizabeth chemical plant has repeatedly failed since 2001 to either keep its air pollution controls within their required parameters or failed to monitor those parameters, the Environmental Protection Agency and Allegheny County Health Department claim in a federal lawsuit filed today.
The agencies claim that Eastman Chemical Resins Inc., a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical Co. of Kingsport, Tenn., keeps allowing its condensers to warm up, which reduces their ability to remove volatile organic compounds from the air coming out of several of the company`s industrial units along the Monongahela River.
Volatile organic compounds are gases emitted by a wide range of products, including paints, adhesives, solvents and petroleum products such as gasoline and kerosene. They react with nitrogen oxide to form ozone, which is more commonly known as smog when it`s at ground level.
Wanda Valentine, a spokeswoman for Eastman Chemical, said the company is spending about $1.7 million to $2.7 million to fix the problems highlighted in the lawsuit and already has agreed to pay $632,000 in fines and penalties to settle the lawsuit.
‘We`re very conscientious about protecting human health and the environment,’ she said.
The EPA and Health Department filed the 143-page consent decree today after filing the lawsuit, court records show.
The 240 employees at the West Elizabeth plant produce a wide range of hydrocarbon products that other companies use to make products that include tapes, labels and glue sticks.
The facility has been a ‘major supplier for the adhesives and coatings industry since the 1950s,’ she said.
Originally part of Eastman Kodak, Eastman Chemical Co. has been an independent company since 1994, Valentine said.”
