Bunge North America, Department of Justice announce Clean Air Settlement
October 26, 2006 - St. Louis, Missouri - Bunge North America announced that it has agreed to settle a complaint with the Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency concerning emissions at 12 U.S. soybean processing plants and corn mills. The facilities are located in eight states that also participated in the settlement.
In the agreement, which is contained in a Consent Decree filed today by the Department of Justice, Bunge agreed to implement a comprehensive plan to reduce emissions at its facilities by 2,200 tons a year. The settlement also requires Bunge to pay a cash penalty of $625,000 and to spend $1.25 million to fund community-based environmental projects in the impacted states.
“This agreement acknowledges the steps Bunge has taken and will take to ensure that we meet or exceed all applicable environmental regulations,” said Carl Hausmann, president and CEO, Bunge North America. “Bunge is committed to being a good citizen in the communities we serve, which includes operating our business in a safe and environmentally responsible manner.”
In the Consent Decree, the EPA credits Bunge for completing more than twenty projects between 2002 and 2004. The projects at Bunge’s facilities have resulted in a reduction of 1180 tons per year of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions and 76 tons per year of particulate matter (PM) emissions.
The $1.25 million will be spent on community projects that will bring additional environmental benefits to the eight states involved in the settlement. The projects include retrofitting diesel vehicles in Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas and Ohio; providing hazardous materials response equipment and training in Illinois and Mississippi; abatement of residential lead contamination in Illinois; and removal of mercury, lead or asbestos from schools in Louisiana.
The settlement is related to the soybean processing plants in Decatur, Ala.; Cairo and Danville, Ill.; Decatur and Morristown, Ind.; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Emporia, Kan.; Destrehan, La.; Marks, Miss; and Delphos and Marion, Ohio. The settlement is also related to the corn milling operation in Danville, Ill.
About Bunge North America
Bunge North America (www.bungenorthamerica.com), the North American operating arm of Bunge Limited (NYSE: BG), is a vertically integrated food and feed ingredient company, supplying raw and processed agricultural commodities and specialized food ingredients to a wide range of customers in the livestock, poultry, food processor, foodservice and bakery industries. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, Bunge North America and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and packaging facilities, and corn dry mills in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
About Bunge Limited
Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com) is an integrated, global agribusiness and food company operating in the farm-to-consumer food chain. Founded in 1818 and headquartered in White Plains, New York, Bunge has 22,000 employees and locations in 32 countries. Bunge is the world’s leading oilseed processing company, the largest producer and supplier of fertilizers to farmers in South America and the world’s leading seller of bottled vegetable oils to consumers.
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