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Mill Explosion Results in $2.5M in Penalties

The blast was so powerful that it launched a 100,000-gallon storage tank over a six-story building.

On February 8, 2017, an explosion at a containerboard production mill in DeRidder, Louisiana killed three workers and injured seven others.

The explosion was so powerful that it launched a 100,000-gallon storage tank over a six-story building. 

The tank landed on mill equipment about 400 feet away. 

The blast also damaged property and released extremely hazardous substances into the air. 

Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) yesterday agreed to pay $2.5 million in civil penalties for violating the Clean Air Act.

An EPA investigation at the DeRidder mill following the explosion uncovered additional Clean Air Act violations.

Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act is designed to prevent the release of hazardous substances. 

Section 112(r) was created in response to the 1984 catastrophic release of methyl isocyanate in Bhopal, India, that killed more than 3,400 people and injured more than 200,000 others.

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