TPC Group L.L.C. has pleaded guilty to violating clean air laws and will pay $30 million in criminal and civil fines plus spend another $80 million on improvements to settle charges stemming from a 2019 explosion at its butadiene plant in Port Neches, Texas.
In a May 21 announcement, the U.S. Department of Justice said the Houston-based company's safety improvements will avoid a repeat of an explosion that injured five people, forced evacuations for thousands of residents in a four-mile radius and closed local schools for multiple days.
"This entirely preventable accident was the result of the company's failure to take the necessary precautions to control a hazardous chemical even though it was well aware of the serious risks," said Benjamin Mizer, acting associate attorney general, in a statement. "Today's criminal plea and settlement send a clear message that safety measures are not optional and that we will hold violators accountable."
TPC entered its plea in U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas.
The explosion and its aftermath, including liability, contributed to TPC filing for bankruptcy in 2022.
The DOJ said the company pleaded guilty to one criminal count of violating the Clean Air Act for knowingly failing to implement its own written procedures, including for monthly flushing of production lines. The government says that would have prevented the explosion.
TPC agreed to pay $18 million in criminal penalties and $12.1 million in civil penalties, as well as publish a public apology.
The $80 million in safety upgrades will also include improvements at its Houston plant, with DOJ officials saying the community around that facility expressed concerns. The Port Neches facility is now used only for storage, DOJ said.
On the civil side of the complaint, the company agreed to 27 claims of violations in Port Neches and 26 in Houston.
"TPC recklessly risked the lives of thousands of Port Neches residents and illegally released millions of gallons of extremely hazardous substances into the environment," said David Uhlmann, assistant administrator in the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance at the Environmental Protection Agency.