AGC Chemicals to close Lancashire plant amid Pfas litigation
AGC Chemicals Europe is consulting on closing its loss-making Lancashire facility as mounting Pfas contamination claims threaten the kind of billion-dollar liabilities seen in the US.
AGC Chemicals Europe Ltd has announced plans to shut its manufacturing plant in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, putting 190 employees and 18 agency staff at risk. The company said the proposal follows four years of losses driven by “significant financial and operational challenges” at the site. A 45-day consultation with union representatives is now underway.
The closure comes days after law firm Leigh Day revealed it is investigating a claim against the company over historic emissions of perfluorooctanoic acid (Pfoa). The facility, which AGC acquired in 1999, emitted an estimated 49 tonnes of the carcinogenic chemical between the 1950s and 2012 to produce PTFE. Leigh Day is acting for a resident whose duck eggs were found to contain Pfoa levels that would exceed European safe weekly limits by ten times.
More than 90 local residents have signed up to participate in the potential legal action, with 50 already undergoing blood tests over the summer. For corporate risk officers, the development highlights the growing balance-sheet threat of Pfas liabilities in Europe. In the United States, similar contamination crises have already forced chemical manufacturers into billion-dollar settlements.
A recent government-commissioned study found higher-than-expected rates of kidney cancer near the plant, though it concluded there was no definitive environmental link. Soil testing by the Environment Agency has nonetheless revealed widespread contamination, prompting authorities to shut down two local allotment sites. Residents have been advised against eating homegrown food or locally produced eggs.
Even if the plant closes, AGC Chemicals Europe’s operational and legal exposure may not end. The facility continues to produce and emit EEA-NH4, another type of Pfas chemical that the Health and Safety Executive is consulting on classifying as a “possible carcinogen.” AGC stated it remains “committed to ensuring compliance with all regulatory obligations,” which includes maintaining staff for ongoing environmental monitoring.
