PROVIDENCE – A national chemical distributor with two sites along the Providence riverfront will pay $600,000 in fines for allegedly violating federal chemical safety standards.
The Jan. 5 consent agreement between the U.S Environmental Protection Agency and Univar Solutions USA Inc. comes after allegations that Univar did not follow certain safety protocols for handling chemical substances, including at its facilities in and just outside of the Port of Providence.
The Illinois-based company has a distribution center along Terminal Road and a nearby processing plant Fields Point. There are also two sites in Pennsylvania and one in Colorado.
According to the EPA’s consent agreement, inspections from 2016 and 2019 found that the company failed to follow Clean Air Act mandates around handling of toxic chemicals like ammonia, chlorine and formaldehyde across all five sites. The federal agency also found problems with record-keeping of toxic chemicals released from the Denver site.
In addition to a $600,000 penalty, Univar will also pay nearly $200,000 to buy protective equipment for fire departments in Denver and Bunola, Pennsylvania to help protect their communities, which are “overburdened by environmental pollution,” according to the EPA.
Environmental and health consequences from Providence’s portside activities have also been of growing concern, with lawmakers, residents and area medical professionals calling on the city to limit – or even rezone – the industrial area along its deepwater port. The debate intensified in recent months amid proposals to extend by 30 years the tax and lease agreements between the city and ProvPort, a nonprofit holding company which operates a portion of the land along the river whose tenants include Univar.
The agreements have not yet received final approval from the Providence City Council.
Bill Fischer, a spokesman for Waterson Terminal Services, said in an emailed statement on Monday, “We expect all of our tenants to comply with state and federal safety regulations, so we are pleased with this outcome.”
Dwayne Roark, a spokesman for Univar, said in an emailed response on Monday, “Univar Solutions takes our responsibility to protect our communities and the environment very seriously, which is why we worked collaboratively with the EPA during their investigation and took all necessary steps to enhance the safety at five of our chemical distribution facilities.”
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Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
