Denka says it met mandated reduction in chemical emissions, but methodology questioned

More than two years after Denka Performance Elastomer agreed to cut chloroprene emissions from its St. John the Baptist Parish plant by an eye-popping 85%, it says it has finally achieved the state mandate to slash pollution of the controversial chemical, a government-designated "likely carcinogen."
But there's a caveat: In a letter sent to the state Department of Environmental Quality last week, the company said it hit the target, cutting emissions by 86% — if state officials agree to recalculate the formula used under the plant's old owners and give Denka a break for months when they were testing new equipment last year. "To address LDEQ’s request for a comparison between current chloroprene emissions and 2014 emissions, some adjustments are necessary," Patrick Walsh, Denka's safety manager, said in the July 1 letter. Denka's response came more than a month after the state gave the plant 30 days to come into compliance with an administrative order first issued in 2017. The department's lawyer said in May that the company could face stricter enforcement, including fines, if it couldn't further reduce pollution soon.