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NEW
YORK—Honeywell International Inc., the world’s largest
maker of airplane controls, will plead guilty and pay
$12 million in fines after a grand jury investigation
into chemicals spills and one death in 2003 at its Baton
Rouge, Louisiana plant.
Honeywell has filed a plea agreement with a US Attorney
covering three previously disclosed incidents at the
factory, according to a regulatory filing today by the
Morris Township, New
Jersey-based company. An employee died in one of the
accidents, prompting the federal investigation.
The
company said it has enough insurance to cover any
penalties and it expects to receive the required court
approval for the plea and sentence agreement. Honeywell
is also in talks with the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality to resolve environmental
violations at the Baton Rouge and Geismar, Louisiana
plants that stemmed from the same incidents.
The
death of the worker in
Baton Rouge
involved the release of antimony pentachloride, and
another employee was exposed to hydroflouric acid, the
company said in a July 21 filing. If the company is
charged, the plant could be barred from supplying
products under government contracts until legal
proceedings are completed, the July filing said.
The
company also said it will “vigorously defend’’ a lawsuit
filed by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
that alleges environmental violations by Honeywell,
including violating the state’s underground storage tank
regulations at its aircraft-engines plant in Phoenix.
Shares
of Honeywell rose 26 cents to $47.83 at 4:21 p.m. in New
York Stock Exchange composite trading and have gained 15
percent in the past year. (Bloomberg) |
