Most U.S. Chemical Plants Were Not Inspected In Recent Years, Group Finds

Less than half of 13,868 U.S. chemical manufacturing facilities were inspected by federal or state governments during the past three to five years, says a new report by the Center for Effective Government, a watchdog group. Of the plants that were inspected, one-quarter had at least one serious workplace safety and environmental violation, according to the report.Seven facilities had more than 50 serious violations. The analysis is based on EPA, OSHA, and state enforcement records. The report focuses on 12 of the largest U.S. chemical manufacturers. It found that seven of these companies—DuPont, Arkema, Mitsubishi, Honeywell, BASF, Dow Chemical, and Chemtura—are members of the American Chemistry Council (ACC), a chemical industry association. As members, they must comply with ACC’s voluntary Responsible Care safety program, but nonetheless collectively had 679 serious violations. ACC calls the report a “mischaracterization” of Responsible Care performance and points to company-reported rates of injury and safety incidents that are far lower for ACC members than nonmember chemical makers or companies in other sectors.