KALAMA — A Kalama chemical manufacturer must pay $112,500 after underreporting its air pollution for four years.
The Southwest Clean Air Agency on Thursday issued civil penalties to LANXESS, formerly Emerald Kalama Chemical LLC, for exceeding emission limits at its Benzoate Plant in Kalama.
Between 2018 and 2021, the facility underreported its emissions of volatile organic compounds until the Southwest Clean Air Agency discovered these calculations were incorrect. In September 2022, the company submitted a revised version of emissions data from the four-year period, verifying its incorrect numbers.
LANXESS produces chemicals used in various industries, including in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical, paint, fragrance, and wood industries. Raw materials are combined in tanks, where they undergo chemical processes and are then distilled. Reactors, tanks and distillation columns contain technology to control pollution.
Since 2022, the facility reduced its emissions within permissible levels, according to the Southwest Clean Air Agency.
