Chemical Companies Agree To Pay Fine

Chemical manufacturer Solutia and plastics maker Ineos Melamines have agreed to pay a civil penalty of $970,000 to settle allegations by EPA that they violated the Clean Air Act while operating a chemical plant in Springfield, Mass. The settlement was filed on Dec. 20, 2012, in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts as part of a consent decree. It resolves claims by the government that the two companies violated the federal air pollution law at the facility between 2003 and 2010. EPA charged that the plant had inadequate equipment for detecting chemical leaks. The companies have agreed to put in place a plantwide leak detection and repair program, under which they will monitor equipment more frequently than would be required by existing regulations. Solutia and Ineos own and operate separate manufacturing units at the facility where they use methanol and formaldehyde to produce melamine-formaldehyde resins for automobile paint coatings. Solutia is now a subsidiary of Eastman Chemical.