DuPont makes deal on SO₂ emissions

DuPont will spend at least $66 million on air pollution controls for sulfuric acid operations and pay a fine of $4.1 million under a settlement with EPA announced on July 20. The deal with DuPont is the second in what EPA and the Justice Department say will be a series of agreements with sulfuric acid manufacturers for curbing emissions of sulfur dioxide. The first, with Rhodia, was announced in April. EPA claims that DuPont made modifications that increased air pollution at four sulfuric acid production plants. DuPont failed to obtain the necessary permits under the Clean Air Act and did not install required equipment to control the additional air pollution, the agency alleges. The company disagrees, saying it conducted routine maintenance, "but none of the projects resulted in an increase in emissions." Under the settlement, DuPont will install state-of-the-art air pollution control devices at a Louisiana plant, an action estimated to cost about $66 million, EPA says. At facilities in Kentucky, Ohio, and Virginia, the company can either install new pollution control equipment or shut down the plants, the agency says.