International company settles EPA water pollution lawsuit

CARTHAGE, Mo. -- A manufacturer of commercial explosives will pay a $2.9 million civil penalty and make substantial improvements to plants in Missouri to settle a federal lawsuit contending it discharged excessive amounts of pollutants into two waterways.

The Environmental Protection Agency sued Dyno Nobel Inc. in 2019 for violating federal clean water regulations by discharging pollutants such as ammonia, E.coli, nitroglycerin, zinc, explosives, aluminum and iron into Center Creek from its plant in Carthage, Missouri, and into the Mississippi River from its Louisiana plant.

The company manufactures explosives at its plant in Carthage and primarily makes ammonium nitrate and nitric acid at the plant in Louisiana, The Joplin Globe reported.

The EPA estimated in a news release that the controls required by the proposed settlement will reduce pollution into the two Missouri waterways by millions of pounds.

The company was accused of disposing of hazardous wastes, including explosives, at both plants without a permit. The Carthage plant didn't meet requirements for the generation and transportation of such wastes, according to the proposed consent decree filed Thursday in Springfield.

Dyno Nobel issued a statement promising to make improvements at both plants, noting it had spent millions of dollars to upgrade and improve them in recent years.

The settlement is subject to a 30-day period for public comment and court approval.