[USA] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalised a settlement with Sasol Chemicals (Sasol) over alleged violations of the chemical accident prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act at the company’s facility in Westlake, Louisiana.
Under the settlement, Sasol will pay more than $1.4 million in civil penalties and correct violations related to an October 2022 fire at the facility, as well as those found during a compliance evaluation in 2021.
From January through July 2021, EPA conducted a Virtual Partial Compliance Evaluation (VPCE) of the Sasol facility under chemical accident prevention requirements of the Clean Air Act, including Section 112(r) and the General Duty Clause. On October 15, 2022, during the process to settle alleged violations found during the evaluation, a fire occurred at Sasol that resulted in a shelter-in-place order for the Westlake area. The settlement announced addresses violations from the evaluation and the fire.