The Dow Chemical complex, in Iberville Parish, along La. 1 on Saturday, July 15, 2023. The plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana, was the scene of a large fire and explosions late Friday.
A challenge to a federal assessment of the cancer risk for a chemical produced in Louisiana used to manufacture goods ranging from antifreeze to detergents has been rejected by a U.S. court of appeals.
The challenge of the cancer risk assessment for ethylene oxide by a Texas petrochemical manufacturer, the American Chemistry Council and the was rejected on Tuesday by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
It ruled that EPA correctly rejected an alternative study by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that found less cancer risk. EPA’s risk assessment concluded that for people living near petrochemical facilities emitting the toxic gas, the maximum lifetime individual risk of cancer from exposure to ethylene oxide was four times what the agency considers acceptable. The Texas agency’s study concluded the risk of cancer from ethylene oxide exposure was 3,000 times lower than EPA’s estimate.
“EPA addressed and rejected petitioners’ arguments in detail, and petitioners fail to show that in doing so EPA acted arbitrarily, capriciously, or otherwise contrary to law,” Circuit Judge Brad Garcia wrote in an opinion joined by Senior Circuit Judge Judith Rogers and Circuit Judge Karen Henderson. Garcia was appointed by President Joseph Biden, Rogers by Bill Clint.