WASHINGTON, DC, October 27, 2006 (ENS) - A multi-state Clean Air Act settlement, reached Thursday with oilseed processor Bunge North America Inc. and three of its subsidiaries, will eliminate more than 2,200 tons of harmful pollution emissions per year when fully implemented, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The $13.9 million settlement covers 12 plants in eight states, each of which has joined the United States as a co-plaintiff.

"Agricultural processing facilities can be major sources of air pollution and this settlement secures permanent and substantial emission reductions for citizens in the affected states," said Granta Nakayama, EPA's assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.

The settlement covers 11 soybean processing plants - in Decatur, Alabama; Marks, Mississippi; Destrehan, Louisiana; Emporia, Kansas; Council Bluffs, Iowa; Delphos and Marion, Ohio; Decatur and Morristown, Indiana; Cairo and Danville, Illinois - as well as a corn dry mill extraction plant also located in Danville.

The U.S. alleges that at some or all of these 12 plants, Bunge or a subsidiary violated the Clean Air Act by constructing major modifications that increased emissions without obtaining pre-construction permits and without complying with applicable standards of performance for new air pollution sources.

The settlement, which follows other settlements with oilseed processors, including Cargill Inc. and Archer Daniels Midland Co., will continue the imposition of lower emission standards on soybean processing plants and will also require other pollution reduction projects, including piloting of a new technology to reduce harmful emissions from coal-burning boilers.

When fully implemented, the settlement will eliminate more than 2,200 tons per year of harmful emissions of smog-forming volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter.

"This settlement will result in healthier air in the 11 airsheds where the plants are located. Eliminating over 1,000 tons of emissions of volatile organic compounds, for example, will reduce the formation of ground-level ozone, a pollutant that irritates the lungs and exacerbates diseases such as asthma," said Sue Ellen Wooldridge, assistant attorney general for the U.S. Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Bunge, a multi-state agribusiness based in St. Louis, is the North American operating arm of multinational corporation Bunge Limited, and a leading oilseed processor, corn dry miller, and U.S. exporter of soybeans and soybean-derived products.

To extract oil from soybeans or corn, Bunge and its subsidiaries use volatile organic solvents. Emissions of VOCs result because some of the solvent escapes to the atmosphere. NOx, SO2 and PM are emitted when fuel is burned to provide heat for the process; additional PM is emitted by handling and preparation of the soybeans or corn.

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