St. Louis Chemical Company Agrees to Pay Penalty for Failure to Report Toxic Chemical Releases

May 31, 2023 FedWatch Comments Off

LENEXA, KAN. (MAY 31, 2023) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will collect a $49,953 penalty from TransChemical Inc., which owns and operates a chemical distribution facility in St. Louis, Missouri, to resolve alleged violations of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA). According to EPA, the company failed to submit required annual reports listing toxic chemicals at the facility.

“Communities, particularly those that are already overburdened by pollution, have a right to know about toxic chemicals in their area,” said David Cozad, director of EPA Region 7’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division. “Failure to report such data also prevents governments and industry from using this important information in the development of regulations, guidelines, and air quality standards.”

As part of the settlement with EPA, the company also agreed to install controls around the facility designed to contain releases of chemicals to bordering neighborhood properties. EPA says that TransChemical will spend approximately $151,000 to complete the containment project.

EPA’s review of TransChemical Inc.’s records showed that the company manufactured, processed, or otherwise used quantities of toxic chemicals above thresholds that require the company to submit annual reports to EPA. Specifically, the company failed to timely submit reports for methanol, xylene, toluene, tert-butyl alcohol, n-hexane, n-butyl alcohol, methyl isobutyl ketone, and nonylphenol ethoxylates in 2017, 2018, and 2019.

TransChemical’s facility is located in an industrial area EPA identified as potentially having high pollution and socioeconomic burdens. EPA is strengthening enforcement in such communities to address disproportionately high and adverse human health or environmental effects of industrial operations on vulnerable populations.

EPCRA requires facilities to report on the storage, use, and releases of toxic chemicals. The information submitted is compiled in the Toxics Release Inventory, which supports informed decision-making by companies, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and the public.