Published: Thursday, March 15, 2007 8:38 AM CDT
BATON ROUGE (AP) – Shell Chemical Co. has settled six years of violations with a $6.5 million agreement, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said Wednesday.
The settlement covers 21 violations between 1999 and 2004 at four sites in St. Charles Parish and one in Ascension Parish, according to DEQ.
It includes a $1 million fine and $5.5 million in donations and improvements to its flare reduction systems at the sites, DEQ spokesman Rodney Mallett said in a news release.
The donations include money for the DEQ hurricane-storm cleanup and recovery fund, an air-quality study, emergency response improvements in the St. Charles Parish School system, and for equipment at the St. Charles Emergency Operation Center, Mallett said.
The fine will go into the state’s hazardous waste cleanup fund. Once that fund reaches $6 million, additional penalty money will go into the environmental trust fund.
‘‘This is an important settlement, not just because both parties have addressed past violations, but because we have also agreed to address the needs of the future,” DEQ Assistant Secretary Harold Leggett said.
The Ascension Parish plant is in Geismar. Two St. Charles Parish sites are in Norco. The others are in St. Rose and Taft.
Shell reported almost every violation. Most were either cases in which it exceeded air quality permits or found that a valve, pump or other part had been leaking, said Jane Lacour, a senior environmental scientist in DEQ’s enforcement division.
http://www.leesvilledailyleader.com/articles/2007/03/15/news/news6.txt