Lanxess Told to Stop Pollution

The Ohio Department of Environmental Protection has ordered Lanxess Corp. to take immediate steps to lower volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from its styrenic plastics facility in Addyston. The agency says average levels of VOCs in the air near the Lanxess facility could be high enough to increase people's cancer risk if the exposure continued at current levels for the next 30 years or more. According to local reports, officials are taking no chances and some 300 children who attend a nearby grade school are being bused to other schools. Lanxess Corp. CEO Randy Dearth says, "Actions are already under way to go above and beyond the currently mandated compliance." They include the installation of a $1 million flare system to reduce butadiene emissions.