An environmental group complained to EPA and state authorities last week that chemical giant Dow is violating air pollution limits under a federal consent decree for its petrochemical facility in Freeport, Texas.
Based on alleged recent violations in public emissions data, the Environmental Integrity Project in a letter asked that EPA and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality launch an investigation and act.
“We urge TCEQ and EPA to initiate immediate enforcement action to enjoin those violations, assess the maximum penalties, require measures to enjoin future violations and ensure safe operations of the Freeport Plant and that Dow complies with the law,” wrote EIP, joined by local watchdogs and hundreds of people who live near the plant.
Over the past five years, pollution released from flares has exceeded the plant’s limits to the tune of 139 tons of carbon monoxide, 119 tons of volatile organic compounds, 91 tons of ethylene and 33 tons of nitrogen oxides, according to EIP. The group called that estimate “conservative.”
