(Lenexa, Kan., April 5, 2013) - Tyson Foods, Inc., has agreed to pay a $3,950,000 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of Clean Air Act regulations covering the prevention of chemical accidents at its facilities in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, the Justice Department and E.P.A. announced today.
As part of a consent decree lodged today in U.S. District Court in Saint Louis, Mo., Tyson has agreed to conduct pipe-testing and third-party audits of its ammonia refrigeration systems to enhance compliance with the Clean Air Act's Risk Management Plan requirements at all 23 of the company's facilities in the 4 Midwestern states.
Those facilities include Tyson operations in Cherokee, Columbus Junction, Council Bluffs, Denison, Perry, Sioux City, Storm Lake and Waterloo in Iowa; Emporia, Finney County, Olathe, South Hutchinson and Hutchinson in Kansas; Concordia, Dexter, Monett, Montgomery City, Noel and Sedalia in Missouri; and Dakota City, Lexington, Madison and Omaha in Nebraska.
Today's settlement stems from a series of 8 separate incidents between 2006 and 2010 in which accidental delivers of anhydrous ammonia at Tyson facilities resulted in property damage, multiple injuries, and one fatality.
Through a series of inspections and information requests, E.P.A. found multiple occasions of noncompliance with the Clean Air Act's chemical accident prevention provisions at Tyson's facilities. Dating back to October 2006, those violations included failures to follow the general industry requirements to test or replace safety relief valves, improperly co-located gas-fired boilers and ammonia machinery, as well as failures to abide by the Clean Air Act's Risk Management Plan prevention and reporting requirements.
Tyson, headquartered in Springdale, Ark., is the world's biggest processor and marketer of chicken, beef and pork.
Tyson's 23 facilities listed in the consent decree are subject to the Clean Air Act's Risk Management Plan requirements because their refrigeration systems each contain in excess of 10,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia. The facilities have a combined inventory of in excess of 1.7 million pounds of the chemical.
"EPA Region seven regularly analyzes the accident history of industrial facilities in our 4 states that are covered by the Risk Management Plan regulations," Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. "These studies have shown that ammonia refrigeration facilities have a higher accident rate than other processes. As a result, we focus a significant portion of our inspection resources on these high risk facilities. The vast majority of these accidents are preventable."
"Exposure to anhydrous ammonia can cause serious health issues, and in extreme cases, even death," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Today's settlement with Tyson Foods will ensure the proper safety practices are in place in the future to protect employees, 1st responders and communities located near processing facilities from the threat of dangerous chemical releases."
"This settlement will protect workers at Tyson facilities throughout Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, and Nebraska that use anhydrous ammonia, and make the communities surrounding these 23 facilities safer," said Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "It will also provide emergency response equipment for 1st responders to chemical releases. The requirements of this agreement, which include comprehensive third-party audits, will help mitigate the impact of delivers of anhydrous ammonia by ensuring compliance with the Risk Management Plan under the Clean Air Act."
In 2005, with a goal of preventing accidents and helping regulated entities understand their obligations in accordance with environmental laws, E.P.A. Region seven published an Accident Prevention and Response Manual for Anhydrous Ammonia Refrigeration System Operators. That guide, now in its 3rd edition, is accessible
online (PDF) (80 pp, 1.56MB,
About PDF).
Anhydrous ammonia is considered a poisonous gas but is commonly used in industrial refrigeration systems. Exposure to its vapors can cause temporary blindness and eye damage and irritation of the skin, mouth, throat, respiratory tract and mucous membranes. Prolonged exposure to anhydrous ammonia vapor at high concentrations can lead to serious lung damage and death.
In addition to the $3.95 million penalty, pipe-testing and third-party audits, Tyson will also spend at least $300,000 as part of a Supplemental Environmental Plan that will purchase anhydrous ammonia related emergency response equipment for fire departments in 8 environmental justice communities where the company's operations are located: Council Bluffs, Iowa, $78,990; Perry, Iowa, $72,156; Dexter, Mo., $25,795; Monett, Mo., $26,855; Noel, Mo., $35,829; Dakota City, Neb., $16,630; Lexington, Neb., $25,858; and Omaha, Neb., $17,934.
The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public review period and approval by the federal court. Once it is published in the Federal Register, a copy of the consent decree will be accessible on the Justice Department web location at
www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.