KINGWOOD, Texas—Orion Engineered Carbons L.L.C. introduced an environmental compliance surcharge—or "Environmental Protection Agency surcharge"—for products produced in North America for 2019.
The surcharge of 1.5 cents per pound is meant to offset incremental variable costs associated with compliance with its 2017 consent decree with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice, according to an Orion news release.
The price adjustment, to be implemented April 1, will be added to all invoices for customers purchasing products produced by one of Orion's North American plants and sold by its rubber and specialty carbon black business units. It will be reviewed on a quarterly basis for adjustment as costs become known.
In December 2017, the EPA reached settlements of clean air act claims with Orion, Sid Richardson Carbon and Energy Co. and Columbian Chemicals—part of Birla Carbon—to collectively spend more than $300 million to install and operate pollution-control technologies to reduce emissions of harmful air pollutants.
A supplier of carbon black, Orion has 14 production sites and four technology centers worldwide, with 1,445 employees.