A Catastrophic Release
On April 8, 2022, BCP Ingredients (a chemical manufacturing and packaging company in Missouri) released approximately 1,290 pounds of Ethelene Oxide (EtO) into the atmosphere during a routine railcar unloading operation.
Systemic Failures Uncovered
The EPA’s investigation into this pollution revealed a whole litany of violations that paint a picture of a company prioritizing profit over safety:
- Inadequate Safety Procedures: BCP failed to develop crucial standard operating procedures for emergency situations, including shutdown protocols. This glaring oversight left workers ill-prepared to handle the April 2022 disaster effectively.
- Equipment Neglect: Perhaps most egregiously, the company had neglected to repair damaged audible alarms and wiring critical for detecting EtO leaks. These safety systems had been non-functional since a flood in May 2021, demonstrating a prolonged period of negligence.
- Insufficient Hazard Analysis: BCP failed to perform required process hazard analyses for its EtO Drum Truck Storage, a process involving large quantities of this dangerous substance. This oversight reveals a systemic failure to assess and mitigate potential risks.
- Non-Compliance with Audits: The company failed to correct deficiencies identified in previous compliance audits, neglected to certify multiple audits, and did not conduct audits at the required three-year intervals.
Ethelene Oxide is no good
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is a highly reactive, flammable, and colorless gas with a sweet odor, primarily used in chemical manufacturing and as a sterilizing agent for medical equipment.
It poses significant dangers to human health and the environment due to its toxicity and reactivity…
Acute exposure to EtO can cause severe irritation to the eyes, skin, and respiratory system, leading to symptoms such as headaches, nausea, and difficulty breathing.
Chronic exposure is associated with an increased risk of cancer, particularly leukemia and lymphoma, as well as potential reproductive and neurological effects.
EtO is also highly flammable and explosive, with a wide range of flammable concentrations in air (3% to 100%), making it a significant safety hazard in workplace settings!
A Call for Systemic Change
This is a clear example of how the pursuit of profit can overshadow worker safety and community well-being.
We need stronger regulations and more frequent inspections to prevent such incidents.
The BCP Ingredients case is just the tip of the iceberg.
How many other facilities are operating with similar disregard for safety and environmental regulations?
💡 Explore Corporate Misconduct by Category
Corporations harm people every day — from wage theft to pollution. Learn more by exploring key areas of injustice.
- 💀 Product Safety Violations — When companies risk lives for profit.
- 🌿 Environmental Violations — Pollution, ecological collapse, and unchecked greed.
- 💼 Labor Exploitation — Wage theft, worker abuse, and unsafe conditions.
- 🛡️ Data Breaches & Privacy Abuses — Misuse and mishandling of personal information.
- 💵 Financial Fraud & Corruption — Lies, scams, and executive impunity.
NOTE:
This website is facing massive amounts of headwind trying to procure the lawsuits relating to corporate misconduct. We are being pimp-slapped by a quadruple whammy:
- The Trump regime's reversal of the laws & regulations meant to protect us is making it so victims are no longer filing lawsuits for shit which was previously illegal.
- Donald Trump's defunding of regulatory agencies led to the frequency of enforcement actions severely decreasing. What's more, the quality of the enforcement actions has also plummeted.
- The GOP's insistence on cutting the healthcare funding for millions of Americans in order to give their billionaire donors additional tax cuts has recently shut the government down. This government shut down has also impacted the aforementioned defunded agencies capabilities to crack down on evil-doers. Donald Trump has since threatened to make these agency shutdowns permanent on account of them being "democrat agencies".
- My access to the LexisNexis legal research platform got revoked. This isn't related to Trump or anything, but it still hurt as I'm being forced to scrounge around public sources to find legal documents now. Sadge.
All four of these factors are severely limiting my ability to access stories of corporate misconduct.
Due to this, I have temporarily decreased the amount of articles published everyday from 5 down to 3, and I will also be publishing articles from previous years as I was fortunate enough to download a butt load of EPA documents back in 2022 and 2023 to make YouTube videos with.... This also means that you'll be seeing many more environmental violation stories going forward :3
Thank you for your attention to this matter,
Aleeia (owner and publisher of www.evilcorporations.com)
Also, can we talk about how ICE has a $170 billion annual budget, while the EPA-- which protects the air we breathe and water we drink-- barely clocks $4 billion? Just something to think about....
