Invista reaches agreement with US authorities
Fibre and polymer manufacturer Invista has announced that it has reached an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Justice and other regulatory authorities to resolve violations of environmental requirements dating back to when DuPont owned and operated certain of its US facilities.
Invista identified and disclosed more than 680 violations at 12 former DuPont sites in seven states when it carried out “comprehensive environmental audits” shortly after taking ownership in 2004.
The company said it had already corrected the vast majority of the audit findings. For approximately 50 remaining findings, the agreement outlines required actions, including installing additional environmental controls, at plants in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Seaford, Delaware, Camden, South Carolina, and Orange and Victoria, Texas.
It estimates that its investment in these corrective actions could reach $500 million and result in emissions reductions of nearly 10,000 tonnes per year.
“This agreement affirms the work we have already done to improve environmental compliance at these plants and enables us, as a new owner, to finish correcting the prior owner’s non-compliance,” said David Dotson, Invista’s senior vice-president for operations. “We are pleased to have a clear path forward to closing out these legacy issues.”
