EPA wins ‘innovative’ EJ settlement with chemical firm

EPA has reached a settlement with a Westlake Chemical Corp. that includes “innovative injunctive relief measures” that the agency says show its continuing enforcement efforts to improve conditions in overburdened environmental justice (EJ) areas by reducing air pollution from flares and increasing fenceline monitoring. The draft consent decree , filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, addresses facilities in Louisiana and one in Kentucky, and says it will reduce volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by 2,258 tons...