THE FOLLOWING IS A NEWS-GAZETTE STORY BY JENNIFER BAILEY
ABOVE: Brainerd Chemical, on Brewer Road in Danville, is the subject of a consent order filed by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to resolve a lawsuit over alleged failure to control emissions of hydrogen fluoride in July 2022.
CHICAGO — The Illinois Attorney General’s Office has filed a consent order with Brainerd Chemical Midwest LLC to resolve a lawsuit alleging the company failed to properly control emissions of hydrogen fluoride from its chemical distribution facility in Danville.
As part of the settlement, the company is required to pay a $124,000 civil penalty and $1,000 in avoided construction permit fees.
Hydrogen fluoride is a corrosive chemical that is harmful to human health. Low levels of exposure can cause eye, nose and respiratory-tract irritation, with high levels of exposure potentially leading to death.
“Brainerd Chemical took steps to remove hydrogen fluoride and has complied with the terms of the measures contained in the 2022 agreed interim order. This consent order will ensure the company’s continued compliance, which enhances the public’s safety and environment in an environmental justice community,” Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. “My office will continue to work with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to ensure our communities are protected from the impact of dangerous chemical emissions.”
The consent order with Brainerd Chemical requires the facility to continue to comply with environmental laws and regulations and avoid future environmental violations that were the subject of the lawsuit Raoul’s office filed in 2022, based on a referral from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
“This agreed consent order is a positive resolution to our enforcement case against Brainerd Chemical for the release of hydrogen fluoride from storage tanks in 2022,” said IEPA acting Director James Jennings. “While the incident resulted in environmental impacts and an unnecessary threat to nearby residents, this order provides protections to prevent any future releases.”
Raoul’s office filed the lawsuit in Vermilion County Circuit Court after three residents living near the chemical facility contacted the IEPA in July 2022 to complain their grass had turned brown and plants appeared to die overnight. The IEPA inspected the facility and observed damaged and dead vegetation for approximately a quarter-mile south of the facility.
During their inspection, IEPA officials observed a plume of emissions from the facility. The agency requested operational, inspection, maintenance and repair records for the air-pollution-control device intended to control hydrogen-fluoride emissions. The plant manager advised the IEPA that no such records existed, in violation of the facility’s air-pollution control permits.
Brainerd Chemical voluntarily ceased operations involving hydrofluoric acid at the facility following the filing of the complaint, and cooperated fully in the investigation, according to the state.
The company completed all compliance measures addressed in an August 2022 agreed interim order in a timely manner, according to the attorney general’s office. By December 2022, Brainerd Chemical completed the removal of all hydrogen fluoride and then notified Raoul’s office in January 2023 that it would not restart hydrogen-fluoride operations at the facility.
Raoul encourages residents to report environmental justice and other environmental concerns to his office by emailing ej@ilag.gov.
