LONGVIEW — A national chemical manufacturing company and its St. Helens, Ore., facility are paying nearly $1.4 million to remedy environmental violations as part of a federal court settlement this week.
Dyno Nobel agreed to pay $492,000 in civil penalties and nearly $940,000 for emergency equipment after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed complaints against the company for 14 counts of violating federal environmental law.
Among the violations were two large, unplanned anhydrous ammonia releases from the St. Helens plant in 2010 and 2015 that Dyno Nobel failed to “immediately report,” according to a news release. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia can lead to serious lung damage or death.
The St. Helens plant also “failed to accurately estimate and report the total amount of routine ammonia releases” to the EPA’s toxic release inventory, which tracks the amount of certain chemical emissions made by major industry and companies in the U.S.
In the court case, the EPA also accused the company of inadequately training workers; failing to create an adequate written operating procedure for the plant; and inadequately maintaining and testing equipment.
