The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

State News

March 19, 2010

EPA orders DuPont review

Belle — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is ordering DuPont to conduct a safety review at a West Virginia plant where a worker died following the release of phosgene gas in January.

The review is based on an EPA inspection of the sprawling chemical plant DuPont operates in Belle, about 12 miles east of Charleston.

EPA officials say the plant has not satisfied federal Clean Air Act requirements to protect against accidental releases and to reduce problems associated with those releases.

DuPont idled operations at the plant for several days in January after three separate incidents.

A worker died after being exposed to phosgene, a chemical used as a choking agent during World War I. It is now used to produce pesticides and plastics.

 

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