Huntsman Faces Legal Action Over Teesside Benzene Emissions
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- Huntsman Polyurethanes is facing potential criminal enforcement from the Environment Agency after the regulator recorded multiple permit breaches at its Teesside plant, with annual benzene emissions rising from 13 tonnes in 2022 to 17 tonnes in 2024.
- The Environment Agency knew of the benzene problem in 2023, when Huntsman decommissioned its original emissions-reducing process and replaced it with a third-party-controlled method that "periodically paused," releasing benzene directly to the air — but did not investigate until 2026.
- March 2026 air-quality modelling commissioned by the EA found "significant" breaches of legally binding standards in all scenarios considered, with one scenario predicting benzene levels 933% above the 24-hour limit.
- Huntsman insists its emissions are "fully compliant with our permit conditions" and that its own air monitoring shows concentrations below standards, but the company refused to share this monitoring data with the Guardian or the Environment Agency.
- EA scientists who internally reviewed the modelling concluded the impacts were "not insignificant" but that predicted concentrations remained below relevant environmental standards — a finding that diverges from the modelling report's own conclusion of "significant" breaches.
- Greenpeace's David Santillo called the EA's slow action a "travesty," while University of York's Ally Lewis said the approach of accepting pollution "as long as you stay below a somewhat arbitrary value" was "remarkably laissez-faire and hands off."
- Boston College Global Observatory research cited in the piece linked plastic production workers to elevated cancer risk including leukaemia — the same cancer benzene causes.
Why it matters: The EA's commissioned modelling predicted benzene exceedances of up to 933% over the 24-hour limit in one scenario, yet the agency's internal review called those same findings "not significant." Huntsman refused to share its air monitoring data with the Guardian or the regulator, leaving residents of Britain's largest chemical cluster unable to verify the company's "fully compliant" claim.
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