Tagged: chemicals

The Air Pollution Control District and Momentive Specialty Chemicals have reached an agreement on alleged violations at the company's Rubbertown plant. The proposed settlement fines Momentive $13,500 for failing to report excess emissions. There will be a public hearing on the fine next Wednesday at 10am, and the Air Pollution Control Board will vote on the settlement.

Every year, the federal government releases data about the toxic releases companies emit into the air or dispose of on land or in water. In the data from 2011 that was just released, the overall emissions for Kentucky continue a general downward trend. But in Jefferson County the most recent data shows that toxic pollution is still about as high as it was in 2004.

The Chemical Safety Board will be in Louisville next week to present the results of its investigation into the March 2011 explosion at the Carbide Industries plant in Rubbertown.

The explosion killed two workers and injured two others on March 21, 2011, when an electric arc furnace over pressured and emitted hot gases and debris.

The Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection has finished analyzing data of all the toxic chemicals that were released in the state in 2011.

Since 1986, companies have been required to report the number of pounds of toxic chemicals they release into the air, into water and on land, and there’s been a definite downward trend in Kentucky as new regulations go on the books. More than 83 million pounds of toxics were disposed in Kentucky in 2011—about 13 million pounds less than in the previous year.