EPA Forces Chemical Intermediates Plant in New York To Comply With Regulations

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Diaz Chemical Corporation (Holley, New York) plans to close its Holley, New York plant due to failure to comply with regulations issued by the EPA regarding the Clean Air Act. The intermediates plant was given one to three months of the EPA's recent order to meet compliance deadlines.

The company is located adjacent to a residential community and the plant produces and processes chemical substances that are potentially hazardous. The EPA has conducted several inspections since January of 2002 and has concluded that they are not complying with the Clean Air Act to protect employee and residential safety. The Clean Air Act indicates that companies have an obligation to do what's necessary to prevent harmful air releases and to minimize the outcome of accidental releases in order to maintain safe facilities.

The EPA has documented the accidental release of a substance containing chloroflourophenol (CFP), toluene and steam from the production plant into the residential community. Several families have been affected and been forced out of their homes until the problem is rectified.

Some inadequacies include the lack of pressure alarm systems and closed loop temperature control systems. Appropriate measures are also not used to calibrate equipment or test for mechanical imperfections as well as certain valves not being labeled or identified correctly.

The plant has been in operation for more than 20 years and specializes in customizing intermediates for the pharmaceutical, photographic, color and dye and personal care product markets. Products such as alkyl halide, benzotrifluoride, aromatic fluorine and chlorine compounds are designed to suit customers' needs and up to several million pounds per year are produced, depending on demand. At this time, however, the company plans to close the plant in May of this year instead of complying with the regulations put forth by the EPA.