DuPont plant in Louisiana fined $480,000 for releasing a cancer-causing chemical

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RESERVE, Los Angeles (AP) — A chemical manufacturing plant west of New Orleans has agreed to pay a $480,000 federal fine and install equipment to stop the release of a cancer-causing chemical from a tank and pipes.

The consent agreement and final order setting out the settlement between DuPont and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was filed on Sept. 25, about two and a half years after an unannounced inspection found several releases of benzene at levels higher than allowed by federal rules, The Advocate reported.

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The plant is located about a half-mile (0.8 km) from an elementary school in Reserve, Louisiana, and 85 miles (137 km) from the state officially known as the Mississippi River Chemical Corridor. Colloquially it is called Cancer Alley.

Daniel Turner, a spokesman for DuPont Specialty Products, said the release of the chemicals caused “no impacts to workers on site or to the community.”

“We are pleased to resolve this matter with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Turner said. “From the time the on-site inspection was conducted, we disputed the instrument readings obtained by EPA from those of our contractors. However, we took immediate corrective action to resolve the issues identified in the inspection.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, benzene has been found to cause an increase in cases of leukemia for those who are exposed to it occupationally. Women who have inhaled high levels of benzene have reported reproductive effects, and long-term exposure can cause blood disorders. Short-term exposure can cause drowsiness, dizziness, headache, eye, skin and respiratory irritation, and at high levels it can cause loss of consciousness.

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EPA officials monitored 77 valves and two pumps on the first day of inspection when they discovered the violations. They measured 20,100 ppm of gasoline flowing from a vent in the gasoline waste tank, and 1,933 ppm of gasoline escaping from the second pressure/vacuum valve.

Inspectors also found an open line from a valve and a second valve in a different location that were leaking about 542 parts per million of gasoline, just above the EPA limit.

DuPont said its own measurements found much lower benzene levels — although still above the EPA limit.

Federal law requires major industries to ensure that gasoline storage tanks have no detectable emissions, which is indicated by readings of less than 500 ppm and visual inspections. The same standard applies to pipelines or valves used to transport gasoline, but open valves or lines must be covered or plugged.

The DuPont facility is located on the same site as Denka Performance Elastomers, which the federal government accused in 2023 of posing an unacceptable cancer risk to the nearby majority Black community. The DuPont facility manufactures paraphenylenediamine, or PPDA, a chemical that it ships to another DuPont plant to make Kevlar, used in bulletproof vests. The facility employs approximately 280 employees and contractors on site.

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