By Laila Kearney
NEW YORK, Could 11 (Reuters) – A Chevron Corp CVX.N and Phillips 66 PSX.N petrochemical three way partnership imported vital portions of the poisonous chemical benzene into the USA for a number of years with out reporting it to regulators as required by regulation, in response to an organization doc seen by Reuters.
Benzene is a identified carcinogen that’s used within the manufacturing of pesticides, detergents, plastics, and different artificial supplies, and firms should report imports of 25,000 kilos (11,340 kg) or extra to assist regulators monitor potential publicity.
Chevron Phillips Chemical Firm LLC CHEPH.ULimported “reportable portions” of the chemical between 2013 and 2020 that it didn’t instantly open up to regulators, in response to the doc, a letter from the corporate’s legal professional to non-profit watchdog group Heart For Environmental Well being dated April 21.
The letter stated the corporate has since filed paperwork to right the difficulty.
Chevron Phillips Chemical declined to touch upon the matter for this story, citing pending regulatory evaluate. The Environmental Safety Company additionally declined remark, saying the company usually doesn’t disclose whether or not or not there are enforcement actions underway.
The EPA has fined firms up to now for comparable violations, working into the tens to a whole bunch of hundreds of {dollars}, in response to company paperwork.
Chevron Phillips had despatched the letter to CEH after the watchdog group threatened to sue it for allegedly violating the U.S. Poisonous Substances Management Act, which requires the disclosure of great imports of harmful chemical substances.
CEH stated it believes the corporate imported greater than 350 million kilos of the product with out reporting it to the EPA from the years 2013 to 2015, citing the newest publicly accessible knowledge. It didn’t have an estimate for unreported imports since 2015.
CEH stated it had additionally discovered that different chemical firms imported benzene with out reporting it on required U.S. Chemical Knowledge Reporting rule types, however in lesser portions.
“We imagine these violations are the tip of the iceberg inside the business and CDR non-compliance is probably going widespread and vital,” stated Robert Sussman, CEH counsel and a former EPA senior official.
“Non-profit teams like CEH can do solely a lot to discourage violations if EPA doesn’t successfully use the enforcement instruments at its disposal to search out and penalize violators.”
Deemed a carcinogen by the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Providers, benzene can evaporate and in addition pool underground, contaminating air, soil and groundwater that may trigger individuals and animals to change into sick over time.
(Reporting by Laila Kearney Modifying by Marguerita Choy)
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