The proposed Consent Decree resolves Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) violations concerning the identification, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous waste, non-compliance with the Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting requirements and Clean Air Act (CAA) violations of the Benzene Waste Operations NESHAP (BWON) and Miscellaneous Organic Chemical Manufacturing NESHAP (MON). Under the proposed settlement, DuPont will hire a third-party contractor to conduct a one-time independent compliance audit specifically tailored to each of the three media. For RCRA, the third-party auditor will identify all waste streams, make a determination of the regulatory status of each waste and document the evaluation results. DuPont will conduct a review of its pH exceedance and tracking system and update the system, if necessary and investigate the extent of contamination of sediments and soils under several impoundments and conduct remediation, if necessary, in accordance with the Texas Risk Reduction Program. The CAA audit will evaluate compliance with the BWON and the MON. Under the CWA, the third-party auditor will assess whether the wastewater collection, conveyance and treatment systems in place are adequate to ensure and maintain compliance with Section 301 of the Clean Water Act.
The settlement includes a penalty to be split with the State of Texas who is a co-plaintiff on the Consent Decree and has worked closely and cooperatively in this matter.