WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it reached settlements with two subsidiaries of the Kemira Group for violations of chemical and pesticide laws.

The settlement with Kemira Chemicals resolves alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, including the sale and distribution of an unregistered pesticide, the sale and distribution of misbranded pesticides, and pesticide production reporting violations. The sale and distribution of unregistered or misbranded pesticides can cause serious illness in humans and be harmful to the environment. Under the terms of the agreement, Kemira Chemicals has corrected the alleged violations and will pay a civil penalty of $301,600.

EPA also reached an agreement with Kemira Water Solutions after an EPA inspection identified 27 violations of the Toxic Substance Control Act’s Inventory Update Reporting (IUR) rule for the 2006 reporting period. The IUR rule requires manufacturers and importers of certain chemical substances to report the production volume and location of each facility producing these chemical substances. The information collected is used to support risk screening and assessment and makes up the most comprehensive source of basic screening-level, exposure-related information on chemicals available to EPA. Kemira Water Solutions has since submitted the required information to EPA and will pay a civil penalty of $503,110.

Kemira Chemicals, Inc. and Kemira Water Solutions, Inc. are both subsidiaries of Kemira Group, a global chemical company with U.S. headquarters in Atlanta, Ga.