On May 7, 2015, a Consent Decree was entered between the United States and the states of Alabama and Oklahoma, and Continental Carbon Company (Continental). Continental has agreed to install pollution control technology that will significantly cut emissions of harmful air pollutants at manufacturing facilities in Alabama, Oklahoma and Texas. The settlement will resolve claims that Continental violated the Clean Air Act by modifying their facilities in a way that caused the release of excess sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx). The settlement requires Continental to pay a civil penalty of $650,000, which will be shared with Alabama and Oklahoma, co-plaintiffs in the case. Continental must also spend $550,000 on environmental projects to help mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution on the environment and to benefit local communities, including at least $25,000 on energy efficiency projects in the communities near each of the three facilities.
Amendment: Changes the date by which the Wet Gas Scrubber (WGS), which controls sulfur dioxide emissions, and the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR), which controls nitrogen oxide emissions, would be installed and operated at Continental's Ponca City, OK, facilities by about 2.5 years later, to April 1, 2021.