OSHA Fines Arkansas Chemical Plant

June 20, 2012

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued more than $100,000 in fines to an Arkansas chemical company.

The federal agency alleges that Great Lakes Chemical Corp. exposed employees at the El Dorado facility to unexpected releases of the chemical bromine.

The El Dorado News-Times reports that OSHA inspectors found a number of violations when they examined the plant in December. A report says many of the violations came in the facility’s bromine unit, where employees were reportedly exposed to “uncontrolled releases of ammonia, chlorine, sulfur dioxide and bromine.”

The company said it will meet with OSHA to discuss the report. Great Lakes Chemical said in a statement that the health and safety of its employees and residents of El Dorado is of “paramount importance.”