Cleaning bill

Invista consented Monday to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice to pay a $1.7 million civil penalty and spend up to $500 million to correct environmental violations at 12 former DuPont plants, including the Waynesboro plant.

However, the environmental violations found at the Waynesboro plant have already been corrected, said Mary Beth Jarvis, vice president for government and public affairs for Invista.

According to the filing in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., violations found at the Waynesboro plant included those pertaining to stormwater discharges and a stormwater prevention plan.

Jarvis said the remaining 50 environmental violations will be corrected over the next six to seven years at Invista’s facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn.; Seaford, Del.; Camden, S.C.; Orange, Taxes; and Victoria, Texas.

Correcting the violations will mean installing additional environmental controls.

The EPA said Invista will install equipment to treat air pollution at Seaford, Camden, Chattanooga and Victoria. Invista has also agreed to minimize benzene wastes generated at the Victoria and Orange facilities.

“By correcting these violations, Invista will reduce harmful air pollution by nearly 10,000 tons per year,” said Catherine R. McCabe, acting assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Invista is making a clean start in a settlement that achieves significant environmental benefits, and we encourage other new owners to do the same.”

Jarvis said the environmental violations were found by external auditors who conducted more than 40 audits at the 12 former DuPont plants in the U.S. after Koch Industries purchased the plants in 2004.

The EPA said Invista disclosed more than 680 violations at the plants after taking ownerhip in 2004.

Invista last year filed a federal lawsuit in New York against DuPont seeking compensatory damages of $800 million and requiring the company to fulfill its contractural obligations.

The suit alleges that DuPont knew of several safety and environmental violations but took no action to correct them or disclose them to Invista.

According to the lawsuit, DuPont allegedly included projects at the Seaford plant in which the company is said to have ignored provisions of the federal Clean Air Act.

Jarvis said a motion two weeks ago by DuPont to dismiss the lawsuit was denied.

The dismissal allows all elements of the suit to continue, including Invista’s pursuit of punitive damages.