Kerr-McGee agreed to pay pollution fine

Thursday, July 14, 2005 | 9:43 a.m.

Kerr-McGee Chemical Corp. in May agreed to pay a $55,392 penalty to resolve air permit violations at its Henderson plant, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.

The EPA said the violations began in 1993 when a fourth "hearth" was added to the three existing hearths at its production site for manganese dioxide. The chemical is used for making batteries.

The company added pollution control systems to all four hearths in 2001, which was more than the law called for, said Kara Christenson, an EPA lawyer. While the new pollution systems brought the company into compliance with federal and local regulations, it did not close the issue of the penalty.

During EPA's investigation, the company spent $4.8 million to install the pollution controls, reducing total carbon monoxide emissions TO 115 tons per year -- an 80 percent reduction from previous levels. "This settlement, though long in coming, provides significant air quality benefits for Henderson and beyond," said Deborah Jordan, director of the EPA's Air Division for the Pacific Southwest region. "Installing required control equipment was necessary to minimize pollution and protect public health.'

Kerr-McGee spokesman John Christiansen, at the company's office in Oklahoma City, said the company's Henderson plants are in full compliance with local and federal regulations and that the pollution control technology added in 2001 went "above and beyond what was required."

Steve Deyo, a spokesman for the Clark County Air Quality and Environmental Management Department, said his department's predecessor agency, then under the Clark County Health District, first cited the company for failing to comply with air quality regulations.

Once the federal government also noted a violation of federal rules, the investigation and penalty was turned over to the EPA, Deyo said.