Bunge Intl. Environmental Record
In Saint Louis, Missouri the federal Environmental Protection Agency filed charges against Bunge company regarding pollution emissions.[3] This involved twelve soybean processing plants and corn mills in eight states throughout the US. The lawsuit claimed Bunge violated the Clean Air Act by constructing major modifications that increased emissions. Bunge must implement engineering approaches and pollution control projects, estimated to cost $12 million, to reduce emissions at the facilities by 2,200 tons a year. The settlement also calls for Bunge to pay a cash penalty of $625,000 and to spend $1.25 million to fund community-based environmental projects selected by and to be supervised by the impacted states. Granta Y. Nakayama said, "Agricultural processing facilities can be a major sources of air pollution and this settlement secures permanent emission reductions for citizens in the affected states."[4] Many states will profit from this blunder though. The state of Kansas will receive $22,000 of the $625,000 civil penalty, this being issued by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.[5]