Dover Chemical Company Settlement

(Washington, DC - February 07, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice announced that Dover Chemical Corporation has agreed to pay $1.4 million in civil penalties for the unauthorized manufacture of chemical substances at facilities in Dover, Ohio and Hammond, Ind. The settlement resolves violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) premanufacture notice obligations for its production of various chlorinated paraffins. Dover Chemical produces the vast majority of the chlorinated products sold in the United States. As part of the settlement, Dover Chemical has ceased manufacturing short-chain chlorinated paraffins, which have persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) characteristics. PBTs pose a number of health risks, particularly for children, including genetic impacts, effects on the nervous system, and cancer. Dover Chemical will also submit premanufacture notices to EPA for various medium-chain and long-chain chlorinated paraffin products.

On this page:

• Overview of Company
• Violations
• Injunctive Relief
• Pollutant Impacts
• Health Effects and Environmental Benefits
• Civil Penalty
• Contact

Overview of Company

Dover is headquartered in Dover, Ohio, with manufacturing facilities there and in Hammond, Indiana. In 2010, Dunn and Bradstreet estimated that Dover had 220 employees combined at both facilities. Dover has the last remaining domestic chlorinated paraffin manufacturing facilities. Dover manufactured chlorinated paraffins without providing notice to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) 90 days before commencing manufacture.

Violations

Dover violated section 5(a)(l) of Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) 15 U.S.C. § 2604(a)(l), and 40 C.F.R. Part 720 by manufacturing short-chained, medium-chained and long-chained chlorinated paraffins without first submitting a pre-manufacture notice (PMN) to the Administrator of EPA at least 90 days before manufacturing such substance.

Injunctive Relief

The consent decree requires Dover to:

• cease manufacture of short-chained chlorinated paraffins and

• provide proper pre-manufacture notices to the EPA for any other chlorinated paraffin it wishes to manufacture after the date of lodging of the Decree.

Pollutant Impacts

This settlement will end the manufacture of short-chained chlorinated paraffins in facilities in the United States.

Health Effects and Environmental Benefits

Short-chained chlorinated paraffins are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic to aquatic organisms at low concentrations.  They can remain in the environment for a significant amount of time and can bioaccumulate in animal tissues, increasing the probability and duration of exposure. Even relatively small releases of these chemicals from individual manufacturing, processing, or waste management facilities have the potential to accumulate over time to higher levels and cause significant adverse impacts to the environment. Short-chained chlorinated paraffins have been measured in a variety of environmental media including air, sediment, surface waters, and wastewater.  Short-chained chlorinated paraffins have also been measured in a variety of biota, including freshwater aquatic species, marine mammals, and avian and terrestrial wildlife. In addition, short-chained chlorinated paraffins have been detected in samples of human breast milk from Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as in a variety of food items from Japan and various regions of Europe.

Submission of pre-manufacture notices by Dover to EPA for medium- and long-chained chlorinated paraffins will enable the Agency to identify and evaluate the health and environmental effects, exposures and releases, and risks posed by these chemical substances.  If appropriate, EPA will initiate action under TSCA section 5 to address any unreasonable risks posed by the medium- and long- chained chlorinated paraffins.

Civil Penalty

As part of the settlement, Dover has agreed to pay a $1.4 million civil penalty.

For more information, contact:

Carl J. Eichenwald 
Waste and Chemical Enforcement Division
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Ave, NW (MC 2249A)
Washington, DC 20460 
(202) 564-4036
Carl Eichenwald (eichenwald.carl@epa.gov)