Firestone Polymers, Environmental Violations, Louisiana 2024

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Acting United States Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook announced that Firestone Polymers LLC (Firestone) has agreed to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and several other federal and state environmental laws at the company’s synthetic rubber manufacturing facility in Sulfur, Louisiana.

The company will also pay a total of $3.35 million in civil penalties. The settlement requires several actions from Firestone, including meeting emissions limits, operating and maintenance requirements, equipment controls, limiting hazardous air pollutants from facility dryers, conducting inspections of heat exchangers, installing controls and monitors on covered flares, and installing flaring instrumentation and monitoring systems.

After being notified of the violations but prior to the consent decree being lodged, Firestone took other compliance measures, including installing and operating a regenerative thermal oxidizer system to receive waste gases from dryers, reducing n-hexane solvent concentrations and inspecting and testing heat exchangers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and co-plaintiff Louisiana Department of Environment Quality (LDEQ) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, alleging that the facility emitted excess amounts of pollutants including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and hazardous air pollutants including 1,3-butadiene, n-hexane, styrene, formaldehyde, methanol, and others.

“Businesses such as Firestone Polymers have a sacred obligation to protect Louisiana’s environment and to use our natural resources wisely,” stated Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook for the Western District of Louisiana.

“This settlement sends a clear message that those who don’t honor this obligation will be held accountable,” Van Hook added.

Firestone Polymers will pay a total of $3.35 million in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act and other federal and state environmental laws.

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