Court Grants Denka’s Request to Stay EPA Emission Deadline

The Denka, formerly DuPont, factory in Reserve, Louisiana, on Aug. 12, 2021. (Emily Kask/AFP via Getty Images)

A U.S. appeals court on July 31 granted Louisiana company Denka Performance Elastomer’s request to stay the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 90-day compliance deadline for its chloroprene emission rules, upholding the state’s extension of time for Denka to comply with the regulations.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Denka can continue operating its manufacturing facility in LaPlace, Louisiana, with the state Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) approval to give the company until 2026 to meet EPA rules. The court did not explain its decision.

The DEQ granted Denka the extension after the EPA implemented a 90-day compliance rule to reduce toxic air pollution, including ethylene oxide and chloroprene, from about 200 plants.

Denka produces chloroprene, which is used to make neoprene synthetic rubber used in a wide variety of products such as wetsuits, waterproof gloves, laptop sleeves, electrical insulation, and automotive fan belts and hoses.

The company filed its petition in July, noting that it would have to permanently shut down its facility in Louisiana by Oct. 15 if the company was forced to meet the EPA’s compliance deadline.

Denka argued that the potential closure would jeopardize the livelihoods of its 250 staff and “[cut] off any source of revenue that would be necessary to achieve compliance with the new requirements.”

The company said the DEQ had granted an extension to install equipment for chloroprene control and meet emission control requirements, but the EPA determined that the state’s extension was “ineffectual.”

“EPA’s determination that the LDEQ extension is ‘ineffectual’ ignores fundamental principles of cooperative federalism, particularly Louisiana’s delegated, lawful, and long-held authority to govern air emissions and public health in the State,” it stated.

An EPA spokesperson told The Epoch Times by email that the agency is reviewing the court’s decision.

The agency emphasized that its rule was aimed at reducing the number of people with elevated air toxin-related cancer risks by 96 percent in communities near chemical plants.

Previously in June, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied Denka’s request to stay the EPA’s compliance deadline.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a complaint under Section 303 of the Clean Air Act against Denka to compel the company “to significantly reduce hazardous chloroprene emissions from its neoprene manufacturing facility in LaPlace.”

The Biden administration’s lawsuit claimed the company’s facility presented “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health and welfare.”

In June last year, the EPA dropped its probe into allegations of discrimination or civil rights violations by the state of Louisiana after finding no evidence that local black residents faced high levels of air pollution.

The investigation was initiated in response to complaints from environmental groups, who argued that black residents in St. John the Baptist Parish were disproportionately exposed to pollution from the Denka plant.

St. John the Baptist Parish is located within an industrialized area along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans that activists refer to as “Cancer Alley.” The majority of the parish population is black.

Caden Pearson contributed to this report.