FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1997                         (202) 514-2008
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
           JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES DUPONT FOR RELEASING
              TOXIC CLOUD OVER EASTERN KENTUCKY TOWN


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- E.I. Du Pont De Nemours and Company was
sued today by the Justice Department for violating federal
environmental laws for the 1995 release of highly toxic sulfuric
acid fumes from its acid manufacturing plant in Wurtland, Kentucky.

     The lawsuit filed today in U.S. District Court in Lexington,
Kentucky, alleged that Dupont failed to design and maintain a safe
facility for handling hazardous substances, contain the leak once
it occurred and notify the proper authorities promptly.  Dupont was
accused of violating federal environmental laws, including the
Clean Air Act, with each violation carrying a maximum penalty of
$25,000 per day.

     Dupont's Wurtland plant produces oleum, sulfuric acid and
chlorosulfonic acid.  Oleum is an extremely hazardous, viscous
liquid also known as fuming sulfuric acid.  When oleum is exposed
to air, it combines with water vapor and forms a sulfuric acid
mist.  

     "Those that handle extremely toxic substances must act
responsibly to prevent leaks like the one that occurred in
Wurtland," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge
of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources
Division.  "We brought this case because communities have a right
to be protected from accidents like this."

     Joseph Famularo, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of Kentucky, said, "the general duty of care requirement
under the Clean Air Act is an important enforcement mechanism for
assuring that industries which handle toxic substances will act
responsibly to prevent such air releases, and we must vigorously
enforce against violators."

     The federal lawsuit alleged that on the evening of August 20,
1995, a cast iron pipe attached to an oleum storage tank at the
Wurtland plant sheared off from a connecting valve, releasing more
than 23,000 gallons of oleum over a period of four hours.  The
release caused a sulfuric acid gas cloud to form over the Wurtland
area, forcing evacuations in two counties, causing personal injury
to citizens, and damaging property.
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