Invista Will Pay $500 Million Towards Environmental Violations
In the largest settlement in the 14 year history of the EPA's audit policy, chemical and textile giant Invista will spend $500 million to bring 12 plants into compliance with environmental laws. The EPA's audit policy includes incentives to companies that voluntarily disclose and correct environmental violations.
All of the plants in question were recently purchased by Invista from Dupont. Soon after purchasing the plants Invista disclosed 680 violations at 12 plants in 7 states. In March 2008 Invista filed an $800 million lawsuit against Dupont citing the companies failure to allow a thorough review of the plants before sale. The suit is pending.
According to the EPA the spending will result in:
- $325 million in estimated annual human health benefits.
- 30 fewer premature deaths.
- 9,000 fewer cases of upper and lower respiratory symptoms.
The above results will be achieved through installation of pollution control equipment to treat air pollutants and remove benzene from waste water.
The settlement includes a 1.7 million civil penalty.
