All Uses of ‘Camp Lejeune Solvent’ to Be Phased Out by EPA Rule

All consumer, industrial, and commercial uses of trichloroethylene would be phased out under a rule the EPA issued Monday for a solvent the agency has long recognized could be harmful when released into the air and water or onto the land.

Adding commercial restrictions to existing environmental regulations, as the Environmental Protection Agency’s rule (RIN 2070–AK83) does, has been a top priority of the Biden administration due to the deaths and illnesses attributed to the chemical in communities like Woburn, Mass., and made famous through a lawsuit, Anderson v. W.R. Grace & Co., featured in the 1998 legal drama, “A Civil Action.” Trichloroethylene (TCE) also is the focus of thousands of lawsuits involving drinking water exposures at Camp Lejeune.

The EPA’s rule requires manufacturers to rapidly phase down production, imports, processing, distribution, and use of trichloroethylene (TCE) for all uses, with the majority of those ending in one year.

A limited number of uses in the workplace will be phased out over a longer period. When longer phaseouts are necessary, manufacturers must protect their workers, EPA said.

The final rule sets a different inhalation exposure limit for airborne TCE than was proposed, factoring in responses the agency received to ensure the limit is feasible to implement and monitor. The EPA in a statement said it estimates the new limit would reduce long-term workplace exposure by 97%.

TCE causes liver cancer, kidney cancer, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, according to the EPA. It also damages the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, immune system, reproductive organs, and is dangerous for fetal development, the agency said.

TCE is used in industrial, commercial and consumer applications such as producing hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants; vapor and aerosol degreasing; and lubricants, greases, adhesives and sealants.

Because there are no alternatives to the solvent’s use to help make products critical to the economy like batteries, the EPA allowed those uses to continue for 15-20 years.

Other allowed uses include by federal agencies to make rocket booster nozzles, and to remove grease from essential equipment onboard military vessels, the EPA said, giving these applications 10-year exemptions.

Essential laboratory uses and disposal of TCE wastewater will be allowed to continue for 50 years with proper worker protections in place.

Occidental Petroleum Corp., Olin Corp., and the Sherwin-Williams Co., are among the companies that made or imported between 100 million and 250 million pounds of TCE in 2019, according the most recent national production data released by the EPA.

Factories owned by Entek International Corp., which makes lithium batteries, PPG Industries, Inc., which produces paints, and Tubacex America, which produces stainless steel and other tubes for heat exchange and other purposes were among the top five facilities in 2023 releasing TCE into the air or water or onto the land, which includes disposing of and recycling it, according to the EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory.