Southwest Washington’s clean-air regulator issued a $2.7 million fine Monday to LANXESS Corp. for “significant violations of air quality regulations in 2022 and 2023” at its Kalama chemical plant.

An investigation by the Southwest Clean Air Agency found the company, which operates the local site Emerald Kalama Chemical, had released dramatically more dangerous pollutants than its air permits allowed for years, the agency said in a news release .

The company also was found to have actually emitted more than 10 times the amount of pollutants it reported to regulators on at least four occasions. In one outlier case, the regional clean-air agency found the company had released 1,675 times more isooctane than it reported.

The plant turns chemicals like toluene into products used as flavori

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