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FORM 8-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
CURRENT REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d)
OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): May 5, 1994
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BORDEN CHEMICALS AND PLASTICS LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
Delaware 1-9699 31-1269627
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(State or Other Jurisdiction (Commission (IRS Employer
of Incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
Highway 73, Geismar, Louisiana 70734
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
(504) 387-5101
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Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Not Applicable
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(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
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Item 5. Other Events
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On May 5, 1994, Borden Chemicals and Plastics Operating Limited
Partnership issued a press release (attached as Exhibit 99) announcing the
filing of a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency seeking a
ruling that certain materials and facilities are not subject to regulation
under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits
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(c) Exhibits
99. Press Release
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
BORDEN CHEMICALS AND PLASTICS
LIMITED PARTNERSHIP
By BCP Management, Inc.
General Partner
Date: May 12, 1994 By /s/ David A. Kelly
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David A. Kelly
Director and Treasurer
(Principal Financial
Officer & Duly Authorized
Signing Officer)
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Exhibit 99
BCP SEEKS COURT AID TO STOP EPA
FROM CREATING HAZARDOUS WASTE
GEISMAR, Louisiana - Borden Chemicals and Plastics Operating Limited
Partnership (BCP) filed suit today against the Administrator of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking the U.S. District Court in Baton
Rouge for a ruling that materials which are part of a continuous manufacturing
process and not discarded are not subject to hazardous waste laws.
EPA has indicated that it intends to regulate as "hazardous waste"
materials that are never discarded and thus are not wastes, BCP said. Some of
the materials in question are part of a continuous closed-loop processing
system. Others are reused later following a recycling process.
Wayne Leonard, BCP's vice president and general manager, said the EPA
position could open the door to a wave of inappropriately broad interpretations
of regulations on the U.S. chemical industry.
"This is not what Congress intended for our pollution prevention laws,"
he said.
According to Leonard, "Allowing the EPA position to stand will cripple
pollution prevention efforts in the U.S. by making it more feasible to dump
toxic chemicals in hazardous waste landfills rather than reuse them."
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It could mean that most, if not all, of the chemical manufacturing
processes in the country would have to be regulated as hazardous waste
management units, he said.
Leonard noted that EPA's position would penalize companies that have
developed environmentally sound programs to eliminate waste.
"We've always acted in the belief that the best way to eliminate
hazardous waste is not to create it in the first place," said Leonard. "We have
been achieving this by reusing and not discarding these materials."
In one instance, EPA maintains that partially-depleted mercuric
chloride catalyst used by BCP in the manufacture of vinyl chloride is hazardous
waste even though it is later recycled for reuse. EPA's position is in direct
conflict with a ruling by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
(DEQ) which said the material is not a waste. DEQ is the EPA's designated
authority in Louisiana for administering hazardous waste laws.
"EPA is second-guessing the very agency it chose to administer
hazardous waste laws in Louisiana," Leonard said. "How can a company operate
when the EPA says actions by its own designated authority have no validity, and
penalties can be threatened based on a retroactive change in an official
ruling?" he asked.
On another issue, BCP says EPA overstepped its bounds in declaring
chemical co-products from a vinyl chloride manufacturing process to be
hazardous waste. These co-products are continuously processed through a
closed-loop stream and are never discarded, so they never become wastes.
Borden Chemicals and Plastics Operating Limited Partnership is managed
by BCP Management, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Borden, Inc. which owns 2
percent of BCP. Nearly 700 workers are employed at the BCP facility in Geismar.
