The forum will be followed by a dinner, with remarks by EPA Administrator Carol Browner and others. The fire was made worse by improper storage, handling and labeling of hazardous substances, among them nitromethane and crystallized picric acid, which can explode when exposed to shock. Parish Chemical filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 1997 and filed a reorganization plan a year later. EPA objected because the plan lacked provisions to correct the ongoing air and waste violations. The consequences of doing that improperly can be catastrophic.
Companies owe it to their communities and their neighbors to operate as safely as they can.
That includes complying with clean air and hazardous waste laws. Where companies fail to do that, our duty is to act to protect the public health and the environment. The finding could affect water users, irrigated agriculture and livestock operations in the region. Many people had thought that it took hundreds or thousands of years for water and water borne contaminants to seep down to the water table in the High Plains aquifer. Because there is little rainfall, the water table is often more than 200 feet below land surface, and sheltered by layers of naturally cemented sand and gravel.