Attorney General's News Release

November 19, 1999

Nixon obtains $25,000 in penalties and response costs from company for 1996 cottonseed oil fire in Kennett

Jefferson City, Mo. —Attorney General Jay Nixon has obtained $19,650 in penalties and $5,350 to reimburse the Department of Natural Resources for response costs from a southeast Missouri business responsible for a 1996 cottonseed oil fire in Kennett.

Osceola Products Co., also known as Osceola Cottonseed Co., discharged untreated cottonseed processing wastewater containing oil and grease from its Kennett facility into a ditch, where it caught on fire. The DNR responded to the emergency and took samples to determine the extent of the pollution.

Osceola Products, which has since sold its Kennett plant, earlier paid a $150,000 criminal fine in a case brought by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri. The president and general manager of the company also paid criminal fines in the case and were sentenced to community confinement. The site of the fire has been cleaned up.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

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