CHS makes billions in annual revenue, but they were only fined $2,400 for violating the Clean Air Act.

TL;DR:
CHS Inc., one of the largest agricultural cooperatives in the United States, violated federal clean air safety rules at two Idaho facilities by failing to conduct required safety audits for its handling of anhydrous ammonia, a highly toxic and explosive chemical.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that CHS neglected federally mandated risk management checks for over two years at both its Craigmont and Grangeville sites.

Though the EPA imposed only a $1,200 fine per facility, the violations expose a larger pattern of corporate negligence within an underregulated industry where risk to human and environmental health is often treated as a cost of doing business.

Keep reading to see how weak oversight, deregulation, and corporate priorities align to erode public safety under neoliberal capitalism.

Inside the Allegations: Corporate Misconduct

CHS Inc. operates large agricultural chemical facilities across the American West. In these two EPA enforcement actions, the company was cited for failing to complete federally required compliance audits for its Risk Management Program (RMP) under the Clean Air Act Section 112(r).

At the Grangeville facility, the last RMP audit was conducted on March 17, 2017, but the next one was not completed until November 14, 2022, missing the three-year deadline by over two and a half years!
At the Craigmont facility, the previous audit was performed on March 27, 2017, with the next recorded audit only on March 15, 2022… again, more than two years late.

Under federal law, such audits are essential to prevent chemical disasters. CHS’s delay violated 40 C.F.R. §68.58(a), which mandates these reviews to ensure safety procedures are in place for hazardous materials.

Despite this, the EPA imposed only a $1,200 administrative penalty per site… a sum dwarfed by the company’s literal billions in annual revenues. The polluting company neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing but certified that it has since corrected the violations.

Timeline of Key Failures

Regulatory Capture and the System That Enables It

This case illustrates the structural weakness of U.S. environmental regulation. The Clean Air Act gives the EPA authority to levy up to $59,114 per day of violation. Yet, the agency assessed only $1,200… a token penalty representing 0.002% of the maximum potential fine if enforced fully.

Such leniency signals how regulatory capture has hollowed out enforcement capacity. Corporations with deep political and economic influence often face minor fines for major safety failures. Administrative settlements, labeled “expedited,” allow companies to close cases quickly without admitting liability or facing public scrutiny.

By avoiding courtroom litigation, the company saves on legal costs and potential reputational harm. The government saves on enforcement resources, but at the cost of deterrence. The result is a systemic imbalance where the risk of noncompliance becomes cheaper than prevention.

Profit-Maximization Over Public Safety

CHS Inc. reported annual revenues exceeding $45 billion in recent years. Against that scale, a $1,200 penalty is less than a rounding error. This reflects the corporate incentive structure baked into neoliberal capitalism: it is cheaper to pay minimal fines than to invest in rigorous compliance systems.

The economic logic is clear. Conducting a full safety audit requires labor, documentation, and management time. Failing to do so incurs only marginal financial risk. Under such conditions, safety becomes a cost center, while violations become a rational business decision.

This logic isn’t unique to CHS. Across the industrial sector, compliance with safety and environmental rules is treated as a negotiable financial variable, not a moral or social obligation.

Environmental and Public Health Risks

Anhydrous ammonia, the chemical involved in both violations, is one of the most dangerous substances commonly stored in agricultural supply chains. It can cause severe burns, respiratory failure, and death upon exposure. Even small leaks can endanger surrounding communities.

The EPA’s requirement for Risk Management Plans exists precisely because these facilities pose catastrophic risks if mismanaged. CHS’s failure to audit its safety systems on time meant that potential hazards (shit like corroded pipes, faulty valves, or outdated emergency protocols) may have gone unchecked for years.

In rural Idaho towns like Grangeville and Craigmont, emergency services are limited. A single chemical release could devastate nearby residents, livestock, and water supplies.

Legal Minimalism: Doing Just Enough to Stay Plausibly Legal

CHS’s settlements reflect a pattern of legal minimalism common in corporate America. By settling quickly for small sums without admitting guilt, corporations maintain technical compliance while avoiding genuine accountability.

The language of these agreements reinforces this culture: CHS “neither admits nor denies” the violations, yet “certifies” correction of them. This phrasing sanitizes misconduct into administrative paperwork — a linguistic shield that transforms safety failures into clerical oversights.

The company’s waiver of appeal rights further insulates the settlement from public challenge, locking in a narrative of quiet resolution.

Corporate Accountability Fails the Public

Despite EPA acknowledgment that the violations involved hazardous materials, the enforcement outcome imposes no lasting oversight, transparency requirement, or community notification mandate. The penalty structure is so low that it cannot meaningfully deter future violations.

The Clean Air Act authorizes substantial penalties and even criminal prosecution for endangerment. But in practice, enforcement has been softened by decades of deregulation and budget cuts, turning environmental protection into a paper exercise.

The EPA itself, constrained by political pressure and limited resources, increasingly relies on Expedited Settlement Agreements to clear backlogs. These agreements streamline enforcement at the cost of public protection, transforming what should be deterrence into a formality.

This Is the System Working as Intended

The CHS settlements are not anomalies. They are the literal predictable outcomes of an economic model where profit supersedes precaution. Under neoliberal capitalism, laws like the Clean Air Act are maintained in form but gutted in force. The regulatory state becomes an administrator of risk rather than its mitigator.

For corporations, risk is simply another line item. One to be managed, minimized, and monetized. For communities, it becomes lived reality. When compliance becomes optional and fines become negligible, public safety becomes collateral damage in the pursuit of shareholder value.

Conclusion

The CHS Inc. case is a snapshot of how corporate neglect, paired with structural deregulation, erodes the foundation of public safety.

The EPA’s findings show a clear breach of duty regarding hazardous chemical management. The settlements reveal an enforcement system unable to hold powerful companies meaningfully accountable.

What do I always say, this is not failure. It is deliberate design. A legal architecture shaped by decades of neoliberal reform ensures that even when corporations break environmental law, the consequence rarely outweighs the benefit of cutting corners.

True reform would require restoring regulatory teeth, increasing transparency, and ending the practice of settlements without admission of guilt. Until then, communities in rural Idaho — and across America — will continue to live in the shadow of silent corporate risk.

The second PDF (the one down below) can be found at https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/rhc/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/961EABCB117EEB9F85258D290041F6BF/$File/ESA%20CHS%20Grangeville%20CAA%2010%202024%200239.pdf

The first PDF (the one found up top) can be found at https://yosemite.epa.gov/OA/rhc/EPAAdmin.nsf/Filings/A1192CD13271428885258D290041F64B/$File/ESA%20CHS%20Craigmont%20CAA%2010%202024%200238.pdf