Dyno-Nobel to pay $250K in felony plea deal for ammonia discharges
Summary
UPDATED 3/1/18: A urea manufacturing plant in St. Helens pleaded guilty Friday, Feb. 23, to felony charges for releasing large-scale volumes of ammonia in 2015 and failing to properly report it. Dyno Nobel Inc., a chemical manufacturing plant located off Highway 30 in St. Helens, pleaded guilty to a Class E felony for violating the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act in July and August 2015 when the company discharged 6 tons of anhydrous ammonia vapor and did not notify the National Responses Center for nearly a week afterward. Dyno Nobel must pay a $250,000 criminal fine and will be on a two-year probationary period when the company will be required to implement remedial measures, according to the plea deal. "Many of the nations environmental laws exist specifically to minimize the dangers essential industries pose to surrounding communities and this criminal conviction will serve as an important reminder that the EPA and the United States Attorneys Office will work together to ensure that violations of those laws do not go unpunished," Billy Williams, a U.S. attorney for the district of Oregon, stated in a news release from the Oregon Department of Justice. In 2015, employees at the facility attempted to restart the urea plant over a three-day period starting on July 30, 2015, which subsequently caused a series of massive discharges of the vapor, the plea agreement indicates.