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EPA reaches agreement with Cognis on clean-air violations

Release Date: 10/28/2005
Contact Information:

CONTACT: William Omohundro, (312) 353-8254

For Immediate Release
No. 05-OPA227


CHICAGO (Oct. 28, 2005) — U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has reached an agreement with Cognis Corp. on alleged violations of EPA regulations to protect stratospheric ozone at the company's specialty chemical plant at 4900 Estes Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio. EPA assessed a $44,000 penalty.

The agreement resolves EPA allegations that Cognis failed to perform verification tests and to document work performed on two refrigeration units that used stratospheric ozone-depleting compounds.

When CFC refrigerants deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, dangerous amounts of cancer-causing ultraviolet rays from the sun strike the earth. Production of some of these chemicals was stopped in 1995, and federal law strictly controls their use and handling.