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The Untied States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (“LDEQ”) entered into a Consent Decree (“CD”) with Firestone Polymers, LLC (“Firestone”) addressing alleged Clean Air Act and other statutory violations. See United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, Civil No. 21-c-v-03464.

The CD addresses a Firestone synthetic rubber manufacturing facility in Sulfur, Louisiana.

The CD resolves a Complaint that had been filed on behalf of DOJ and LDEQ against Firestone alleging violations of the Clean Air Act.

The alleged Clean Air act violations involved the Firestone facility:

• Emitting excess amounts of:
  • Nitrogen oxides
  • Carbon monoxide
  • Volatile organic compounds
  • Particulate matter
  • Sulfur dioxide
  • Hazardous air pollutants
• Failure to comply with requirements related to equipment including:
  • Dryers
  • Cooling towers
  • Flares
• Leak detection repair
• Mechanical integrity
• Monitoring reporting

The Complaint also alleged violations of the following federal and Louisiana statutes:

• Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act
• Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act
• Pollution Prevention Act
• Louisiana State Air Pollution Control requirements

The CD assesses a civil penalty of $2,098,678.50. Further, Firestone must complete a Beneficial Environmental Project in Louisiana by funding ambient air monitoring system upgrades in several Southwest Louisiana locations.

The CD also requires that Firestone meet:

• Emission limits
• Operating maintenance requirements
• Equipment controls

CD provisions also provide for limiting hazardous air pollutants from facility dryers, conducting inspections of heat exchangers, installing controls and monitors on covered flares, and installing a flaring instrumentation monitoring system.

The CD notes that Firestone undertook certain actions after being notified of the alleged violations – but prior to the CD being lodged. Such compliance measures are stated to have included:

• Installing and operating a regenerative oxidizer system to receive waste gases from dryers
• Reducing n-hexane solvent concentrations
• Inspecting and testing heat exchangers

A copy of the CD can be downloaded here.