ERIE, Pa. (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency has once again sued Erie Coke Corp. over concerns about pollution at its northwestern Pennsylvania plant.
The EPA claimed the company failed to fix leaks of the chemical benzene, which can cause cancer with excessive exposure, the Erie Times-News reported. The company has "continuously failed to identify potential sources of benzene emissions" and its handling of benzene violates the Clean Air Act, according to the EPA.
The agency wants a judge to order the company to fix the benzene leaks and fine Erie Coke up to $37,500 a day for each violation. The claims are based on environmental inspections at the plant in November 2010 and March 2015.
An attorney for Erie Coke didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The suit comes more than a year after the company, the EPA and the state Department of Environmental Protection ended an earlier suit over other pollution at the plant. The agencies and the company closed out two consent decrees that required Erie Coke to curtail pollution.
Under the consent decrees, Erie Coke made about $15 million in improvements and paid more than $4 million in fines.
