Anheuser-Busch to pay $537,000 to settle EPA safety allegations

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Anheuser-Busch safety settlement overview: 

• Who: Anheuser-Busch has agreed to pay $537,000 to resolve claims lobbied against it by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). 
• Why: The EPA accused Anheuser-Busch of failing to comply with chemical accident prevention regulations at its facilities where anhydrous ammonia is used. 
• Where: Anheuser-Busch has 11 flagship breweries spread across multiple states.

Anheuser-Busch has agreed to pay $537,000 to resolve claims lobbied against it by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that the brewer failed to comply with chemical accident prevention regulations. 

As part of the settlement announced earlier this week by the EPA, Anheuser-Busch also agreed to improve safety operations at 11 of its flagship breweries where anhydrous ammonia is used. 

Anhydrous ammonia is a type of liquified gas that is commonly used as a refrigerant in industrial facilities, but that can be hazardous to the skin, eyes, and lungs, according to the EPA. 

Anheuser-Busch has also agreed to conduct a comprehensive safety review of all of 11 of its breweries — which are spread across New Hampshire, California, Colorado, Texas, Ohio, Florida, New York, Virginia, Georgia, and Missouri — that use anhydrous ammonia. 

“EPA is committed to holding companies accountable if they fail to adequately prepare for and prevent chemical accidents, especially for dangerous chemicals such as anhydrous ammonia,” said Martha Guzman, EPA Pacific Southwest regional administrator, in a statement. 

EPA conducted inspections at three Anheuser-Busch facilities from between 2016 and 2019

The settlement is the result of inspections the EPA said it conducted from between 2016 and 2019 at three of Anheuser-Busch’s facilities located in Merrimack, New Hampshire, Fort Collins, Colorado, and Fairfield, California. 

The EPA said it also investigated an ammonia release that happened in 2018 at the Fort Collins facility that injured two Anheuser-Busch employees. 

“This settlement will help protect workers and the local community near Anheuser-Busch’s facility in Fairfield, California, by requiring key updates to the brewery’s health and safety practices,” Guzman said. 

Anheuser-Busch will be required to hire an outside, independent expert to conduct the safety review, and must also “develop and implement corrective action plans based on those reviews,” according to the EPA. 

“These terms will provide increased protection to approximately 172,000 people in the communities surrounding Anheuser-Busch’s facilities,” the EPA said. 

Anheuser-Busch agreed to an undisclosed settlement last year to resolve claims the company’s Ritas products were falsely and deceptively packaged to mislead consumers into believing they contained tequila or wine. 

Are you concerned about claims Anheuser-Busch was not following chemical accident prevention regulations? Let us know in the comments!

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