Read about the settlement: www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/public_notices.htm

Send a comment: EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed deal with Bayer until Jan. 16. Comments can be sent to Regional Hearing Clerk (3RC00), U.S. EPA, Region III, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha Valley activists are complaining that federal regulators are going easy on Bayer CropScience in a recent deal proposed to settle wide-ranging environmental violations at the company's Institute chemical plant.

People Concerned About MIC argues that monetary fines in the deal are not adequate, and proposes that Bayer be forced to fund a new community health study and pay for gas masks for all residents.

"While the violations represented in this penalty cover a short amount of time, they do not cover conclusively the years of damage that have been done to the health and environment of our community," People Concerned spokeswoman Maya Nye wrote in a letter sent earlier this month to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Under the settlement, EPA proposes for Bayer to pay a $112,500 fine, spend $660,000 on new pollution controls and monitoring programs, and buy $240,000 worth of equipment for local emergency response agencies.

The consent agreement would settle allegations made by EPA inspectors during a series of inspections made as Bayer was negotiating to take over the Institute facility from Aventis CropScience in 2001. During inspections in May, August and November 2001, EPA officials found repeated violations of five different environmental laws meant to limit air and water pollution, and protect the public from the dangers of hazardous chemical leaks and spills.

The EPA allegations were not specifically related to the Aug. 28 explosion and fire that killed two workers and forced thousands of residents to take shelter in their homes. Bayer announced the deal - prior to any EPA release of the settlement - in mid-September, as criticism continued of the company's refusal to provide timely information to local emergency responders about that incident.

Among other allegations, however, EPA accused the Institute plant of waiting nearly five hours to report a February 2001 pesticide leak. EPA also alleged that plant officials underreported routine toxic emissions of a total of more than 1,000 pounds of four chemicals in Toxics Release Inventory filings for 1999.

"If the primary purpose of the administrative penalty is to serve as a deterrent for future violations, it is clear that this penalty is not harsh enough as Bayer clearly violated some of the same laws during the recent explosion in August 2008 as they did during the times of the violations represented in this settlement," Nye wrote in her letter to EPA.

Read about the settlement: www.epa.gov/reg3wapd/public_notices.htm

Send a comment: EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed deal with Bayer until Jan. 16. Comments can be sent to Regional Hearing Clerk (3RC00), U.S. EPA, Region III, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19103-2029.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Kanawha Valley activists are complaining that federal regulators are going easy on Bayer CropScience in a recent deal proposed to settle wide-ranging environmental violations at the company's Institute chemical plant.

People Concerned About MIC argues that monetary fines in the deal are not adequate, and proposes that Bayer be forced to fund a new community health study and pay for gas masks for all residents.

"While the violations represented in this penalty cover a short amount of time, they do not cover conclusively the years of damage that have been done to the health and environment of our community," People Concerned spokeswoman Maya Nye wrote in a letter sent earlier this month to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Under the settlement, EPA proposes for Bayer to pay a $112,500 fine, spend $660,000 on new pollution controls and monitoring programs, and buy $240,000 worth of equipment for local emergency response agencies.

The consent agreement would settle allegations made by EPA inspectors during a series of inspections made as Bayer was negotiating to take over the Institute facility from Aventis CropScience in 2001. During inspections in May, August and November 2001, EPA officials found repeated violations of five different environmental laws meant to limit air and water pollution, and protect the public from the dangers of hazardous chemical leaks and spills.

The EPA allegations were not specifically related to the Aug. 28 explosion and fire that killed two workers and forced thousands of residents to take shelter in their homes. Bayer announced the deal - prior to any EPA release of the settlement - in mid-September, as criticism continued of the company's refusal to provide timely information to local emergency responders about that incident.

Among other allegations, however, EPA accused the Institute plant of waiting nearly five hours to report a February 2001 pesticide leak. EPA also alleged that plant officials underreported routine toxic emissions of a total of more than 1,000 pounds of four chemicals in Toxics Release Inventory filings for 1999.

"If the primary purpose of the administrative penalty is to serve as a deterrent for future violations, it is clear that this penalty is not harsh enough as Bayer clearly violated some of the same laws during the recent explosion in August 2008 as they did during the times of the violations represented in this settlement," Nye wrote in her letter to EPA.

EPA officials have said they were investigating Bayer's failure to properly report the Aug. 28 incident.

For at least two hours after the 10:25 p.m. blast, Bayer repeatedly refused to give Kanawha County emergency officials details about what had occurred. Bayer also did not make a required telephone notification to federal environmental officials until more than two hours after the explosion. Federal law requires immediate notification.

As required by law, EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed deal with Bayer. The comment period, originally scheduled to end Monday has been extended to Jan. 16, based on a request from People Concerned About MIC. The citizen group is named for the toxic chemical that killed thousands of people at the Institute plant's sister facility in Bhopal, India, in 1984. The Institute plant still stores large amounts of the chemical, methyl isocyanate.

Under the proposed EPA deal, Bayer would spend $660,000 on a "supplemental environmental project" to stop excess discharges of chloroform from the plant into the Kanawha River. The company will also buy computer software and provide training for Metro 911 officials to model chemical leaks. Bayer will also allow local emergency responders to use a training facility on the company's property for at least one year. In addition, Bayer will donate about $30,000 worth of equipment to fire departments in Institute, Jefferson and St. Albans.

In her letter to EPA, Nye said the money would be better used on an independent monitoring system to review both water and air discharges from the plant, a community health study by independent scientists, and gas masks for all nearby residents.

Nye also said that Bayer should be ordered to fund development of a "comprehensive and independent Emergency Prevention plan" for the area, and argued EPA should come down harder on the Institute plant in the future.

"We would also like to see that violations of permits cause units shut down until plans are developed to ensure the health and safety of the community.

"This concern directly relates to violations that built up over time, pose greater harm to the health, safety and environment of our community than is represented in the violations of this settlement," Nye wrote. "We would like to see the penalties represented in this settlement enforce accountability to our community in which they operate."

Comments on the EPA deal can be sent to Regional Hearing Clerk (3RC00), U.S. EPA, Region III, 1650 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA. 19103-2029.

Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kw...@wvgazette.com or at 304-348-1702.