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A Single Chemical Plant in Louisville Emits a Super-Pollutant That Does More Climate Damage Than Every Car in the City
Executives at Chemours promised at the White House in 2015 to try to abate the emissions. Now, they say it will take two more years.
March 9, 2021
Chemical plants in the Rubbertown area of Louisville stand near the Ohio River in February 2018 during flood conditions on the river. The Chemours chemical plant, located within the wedge-shaped Chemours property in the lower half of the photo, is the nation s largest emitter of the climate super-pollutant HFC-23, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Credit: Pat McDonogh/Courier Journal
By Phil McKenna and James Bruggers
Inside Climate News
LOUISVILLE, Ky. A chemical plant here that makes a raw material for everything from Teflon to lubricants used on the International Space Station also appears to do more damage to the climate than all of this city’s passenger vehicles.
The Chemours Louisville Works along the banks of the Ohio River is the nation’s largest emitter of a climate super-pollutant known as hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC-23).
As a greenhouse gas, the chemical is 12,400 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the primary chemical compound responsible for warming the planet, and could be eliminated with low-cost, existing technology.