Rohm and Haas - Environmental Record

Environmental Record

On July 6, 2004, the Environmental Protection Agency charged Rohm and Haas of violating the Clean Air Act after inspecting a facility in Louisville, Kentucky. This facility was claimed to not have repaired a deteriorated chemical storage tank, maintained a complete list of monitoring regulations, or removed an accumulation of hazardous wastes.

On February 12, 2006, eleven workers were hospitalized after being exposed to fumes that leaked out of the Rohm and Haas Corporation chemical plant in Cincinnati, Ohio. On February 15, 2006, an employee died when working on a steam ejector due to the inhalation of hydrogen sulfide gas. An investigation determined that since the sewer vent was plugged, the hydrogen sulfide gas accumulated into large concentrations that became lethal.

On April 25, 2006, Rohm and Haas, along with other defendants, were filed with a civil action in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for failing to prevent toxic spills, to employ adequate groundwater practices, and to warn residents of any potential presence of underground contamination. This led to 18 filed cases of brain tumors and cancers among local residents of Ringwood, Illinois.

As early as 1980, the company's McCullom Lake factory located in McHenry County, Illinois, underwent investigation for contamination of the town's groundwater. Studies, paid for by Rohm and Haas, showed the groundwater never affected the town's well water. The company is now one of five corporations undergoing a class-action lawsuit filed by the towns residents, claiming a direct correlation to 31 out of 1,074 residents experiencing some type of brain or pituitary gland cancer. The Northwest Herald published a six-piece investigative story on the lawsuits and residents, claiming to reveal a blatant "mishandling" of the entire affair on the part of local health officials and Rohm and Haas.