Bristol's GOP Methylene Chloride Clouds: King Pharma's Airborne Chemical Releases

King Pharmaceuticals LLC will pay $2.2 million and take measures to comply with the Clean Air Act to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Air Act at its pharmaceutical manufacturing facility located in Bristol, Tenn., the Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced Friday.

From the $2.2 million civil penalty,$1.1 million will be paid to the United States and $1.1 million will be paid to TDEC, according to an EPA news release.

From TDEC’s $1.1 million penalty,$650,000 will be applied to a TDEC state project for homeowners. The settlement also requires the facility to demonstrate compliance with CAA National Emission Standards for Pharmaceuticals Production (PharmaMACT regulations) and to apply for a Title V permit...


The King Pharmaceuticals Bristol facility is located approximately 6 miles northeast of the NASCAR Bristol Motor Speedway.

Notice of the lodging of the consent decree will appear in the Federal Register allowing for a 30-day public comment period before the consent decree can be entered by the court as a final judgment. It is available on the Justice Department website at

http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html

King Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1993 by John M. Gregory and Randal J. Kirk.[6] In January 1994, King acquired a former King College campus plant in Bristol, Tennessee). The 500,000-square-foot (46,000 m2) facility was purchased for $1.18 million from RSR Pharmaceutical, who had been using it after Beecham merged with SmithKline. King initially manufactured drugs for other pharmaceutical companies, but soon established a strategy of acquiring branded prescription drugs, which have a much higher gross margin than contract manufactured drugs.

King Pharmaceuticals obtained about twenty smaller branded drugs from the start up of the company to 1998 when went public in June 1998. The King Pharmaceuticals subsidiary Monarch Pharmaceuticals acquired one of its most profitable branded drugs, Altace later the same year on December 18, 1998 from Hoechst Marion Roussel.