Toxic cleanup laws apparently encouraged Honeywell International Inc. to keep a now-closed chemical plant on the Cape Fear River operating despite a history of mercury release into the water and air, The News and Observer of Raleigh reported Sunday.
The newspaper said internal documents showed that Honeywell decided it was cheaper to keep its former factory near Riegelwood, N.C., running instead of paying for the pollution cleanup the government would have ordered if it closed.
Internal documents show that Honeywell International, which owned the plant from 1963 to 1979, financially supported two succeeding corporate owners — Hanlin Group Inc. and HoltraChem Manufacturing Co. LLC — before the factory closed in 2000.
Honeywell International — a $24 billion manufacturing and technology conglomerate formed when AlliedSignal Inc. purchased Honeywell Inc. in 1999 — reportedly is not alone in keeping polluting operations in business to postpone or avoid cleanup costs.
"Sometimes companies keep the plants open to delay the day of reckoning. It's perfectly legal," said Michael B. Gerrard, a New York-based environmental lawyer.
In one memo dated June 7, 1993, AlliedSignal executive M.G. Kaijala described the "substantial incentive" — saving $70 million in "close-out" costs — behind continuing to run the Columbus County factory and three others in Georgia, West Virginia and New York.
"This projection results from the belief that once any of the plants becomes idle, the regulatory authorities will quickly and vigorously push for substantial remediation of all site problems," he wrote.
Honeywell International said it acted in the best interest of workers, the environment and its bottom line. Now that the Riegelwood plant has closed, Honeywell acknowledged it is financially responsible for cleaning up the site.
"When it's necessary for us to clean up sites, we do so. We do so voluntarily. But we like to do it in a smart way," said David P. Cooke, Honeywell's assistant general counsel in its Morristown, N.J., headquarters. "On the other hand, if a plant can be run safely and in compliance with law, then there's no need to spend the money."
Honeywell has spent at least $90 million cleaning up chlorine plants in Brunswick, Ga., Moundsville, W.Va., and Solvay, N.Y. None of these projects is finished.
Source: The Associated Press
