Chestertown factory agrees to cleanup

July 9, 2008

A chemical factory in Chestertown has agreed to clean up potentially cancer-causing pollution in the soil and groundwater on the Eastern Shore and pay $200,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the Maryland Department of the Environment, state officials said yesterday.

Velsicol Chemical Corp. which makes ingredients for plastics and vinyl flooring, among other products, was accused by the state of violating the law by releasing benzene, a known human carcinogen, and other toxic chemicals into underground water supplies near the plant on Route 297 in Kent County, according to the settlement agreement.

The Chester River Association has been pushing the state to force the company to clean up the site. The settlement was announced by the state attorney general's office.

A spokesman for Velsicol did not immediately return a phone call yesterday. The company purchased the plant in 1994 from another firm, with the site being used for a half-century for chemical production. For many years, the plant used a series of unlined pools to hold wastewater, and the pollutants leached through the soil into the groundwater, according to the state.

As part of the settlement agreement, Velsicol must submit a cleanup plan to the state and examine drinking water sampling results in a one-mile radius around the plant to see if pollution contaminated the water supplies of homes in the area.

Among the pollutants of concern are Bis 2-Ethylhexl Phthalate (BEHP), which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has classified as a probable human carcinogen, and toluene, which can cause death or seizures at high doses.

Tom Pelton