EPA v. ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND (NATIONAL CASE)

Case summary

On August 21, 2003, the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency entered into a landmark Clean Air Act settlement with Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), which covered operations at 52 plants in 16 states and cost the company an estimated $340 million. Three of these facilities are in Region 4 states, including Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The settlement is the result of an unprecedented joint federal and state enforcement effort with 14 state and county entities signing onto the consent decree. Under the settlement, ADM will implement sweeping environmental improvements at plants nationwide that will eliminate at least 63,000 tons of air pollution a year. ADM is a multi-national agribusiness based in Decatur, Ill., that owns and operates facilities across the nation which process corn, wheat, soybeans, and other oilseeds into value-added products used in the food, feed, ethanol and other industries. The manufacturing processes at ADM???s plants result in emissions of significant quantities of regulated air pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). Under the settlement, ADM will install state-of-the-art controls on a large number of units, shut down some of the oldest, dirtiest units, and take emission limits on others. Additionally, ADM???s oilseed operations will accept new, more stringent emission limits for VOC and HAP emissions - limits the regulators expect will set new standards for the industry. The United States and its co-plaintiffs alleged that ADM failed to accurately estimate its emissions from hundreds of process units, and expanded other units without the installation of required air pollution control technology, violating the Clean Air Act. The complaints allege that these ADM plants are major sources of air pollution. The complaints explain that these plants are subject to the Clean Air Act???s New Source Review (NSR) and Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) requirements, as well as the New Source Performance Standards (NSPS) of the Act. As such, they were required to install air pollution controls to reduce emissions and to get the appropriate preconstruction and operating permits. This is the first major NSR/PSD settlement involving the grain and oilseed processing industry. Co-plaintiffs include the states of Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas; the Iowa counties of Linn and Polk, as well as the Nebraska county of Lancaster. EPA estimates that ADM will spend $340 million over a 10-year period to implement the entire injunctive relief package, which includes $213 million for capital improvements such as air pollution control equipment. ADM will also fund extensive environmental audits at all facilities, continuous emission monitoring, operation and maintenance, as well as an environmental management system that will assist the company and regulators in tracking compliance with the consent decree. In addition, ADM will pay a civil penalty of $4.6 million that will be shared with the co-plaintiffs, and will spend $6.3 million on supplemental environmental projects. Much of the supplemental money will be spent on retrofitting diesel engines in school buses, to result in significant reductions of air emissions from those mobile sources.

Defendants (1)

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANYNamed in complaintNamed in settlement

Facilities (18)

• ADM GRAIN COMPANY

  1811 DOCK STREET, MEMPHIS, TN, 38113

  Registry ID: 110001858026

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND

  960 MOLLY POND RD, AUGUSTA, GA, 309013718

  Registry ID: 110000359497

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND SOYBEAN

  1283 ISOM RD, VALDOSTA, GA, 31601

  Registry ID: 110012384561

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND - KERSHAW FACILITY

  413 N HAMPTON ST, KERSHAW, SC, 29067

  Registry ID: 110000351958

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANY

  1730 EAST MOORE STREET SE, SOUTHPORT, NC, 28461

  Registry ID: 110000350370

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND SOYBEAN

  1283 ISOM RD, VALDOSTA, GA, 31601

  Registry ID: 110012384561

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND SOYBEAN

  1283 ISOM RD, VALDOSTA, GA, 31601

  Registry ID: 110012384561

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND

  960 MOLLY POND RD, AUGUSTA, GA, 309013718

  Registry ID: 110000359497

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND SOYBEAN

  1283 ISOM RD, VALDOSTA, GA, 31601

  Registry ID: 110012384561

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANY

  1730 EAST MOORE STREET SE, SOUTHPORT, NC, 28461

  Registry ID: 110000350370

• SOUTHERN COTTON OIL COMPANY

  591 ANTHONY STREET, PORT GIBSON, MS, 39150

  Registry ID: 110000376487

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANY

  1730 EAST MOORE STREET SE, SOUTHPORT, NC, 28461

  Registry ID: 110000350370

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND COMPANY

  1730 EAST MOORE STREET SE, SOUTHPORT, NC, 28461

  Registry ID: 110000350370

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND

  960 MOLLY POND RD, AUGUSTA, GA, 309013718

  Registry ID: 110000359497

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND

  960 MOLLY POND RD, AUGUSTA, GA, 309013718

  Registry ID: 110000359497

• …and 3 more

Statutes cited

• CAA 165 — Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD)
• CAA 111 — New Source Performance Standards
• CAA 110 — Implementation Plan for National Primary and Secondary Ambient Air Quality Standards

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• ARCHER DANIELS MIDLAND (04-2003-C002) (NATIONAL CASE)entered 2003-08-21

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $407,888 · State/local: $136,000 · SEP: $329,070

Timeline (6 milestones)

• 2003-04-09Referred To Dept Of Justice
• 2003-04-09Final Order Lodged
• 2003-04-09Complaint Filed With Court
• 2003-08-21Concluded
• 2003-08-21Final Order Entered
• 2003-10-03Enforcement Action Data Entered