BELPRE, Ohio (Feb. 3, 2010)—Evonik Degussa Engineering Carbons Corp. has agreed to pay Ohio Environmental Protection Agency a $34,310 fine for violating state and federal air pollution control laws at its carbon black facility in Belpre.
The company operates four carbon black production emissions units and several additional units for storing, collecting, transferring and loading the material at the site, along the southern Ohio along the Ohio River. Each unit is considered an air contaminant source, the Ohio EPA said.
During the early part of 2008, as the company was converting to higher sulphur feedstocks, the supplier failed to comply with its established limits for nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, according to the Ohio EPA.
A test in May 2008 demonstrated a return to compliance.
The Ohio EPA issued the company several notices of violation and then pursued an enforcement case to settle the matter.
The agency said $6,862 of the penalty will go to Ohio EPA's Clean Diesel School Bus Fund.