FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 29, 2025
Contact: Jin.Choi@mail.house.gov
Congresswoman Barragán Calls on JCI Jones Chemicals to Improve the Safety of Harbor Gateway Facility
Harbor Gateway, CA – Last week, Congresswoman Nanette Barragán (CA-44) sent a letter to JCI Jones Chemicals, Inc. (JCI) to express concern with the company’s repeated failure to properly maintain equipment and address other unsafe conditions at their chemical plant in Harbor Gateway.
In the letter, the Congresswoman raised alarm with Clean Air Act violations and other safety issues identified by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during past inspections of JCI’s facility in Harbor Gateway. Unsafe conditions found during the last site inspection in 2024 included corroded pipes and valves, a dilapidated roof structure, improper storage of hazardous materials. Additionally, the Congresswoman expressed concerns with the company’s lack of progress toward meeting an updated requirement of the federal Risk Management Program (RMP) for nearly 12,000 chemical plants nationwide, including the JCI facility in Harbor Gateway, to install community notification systems.
To address these concerns and improve the safety of the facility, the Congresswoman requested JCI to commit to the RMP regulations by maintaining all equipment on site, fully enclose the facility with proper equipment to mitigate an accidental chemical release, provide an update in the next sixty days on JCI’s plans to install a community notification system, and engage with the local community on the company’s actions to improve the safety of the facility.
“My constituents and I are alarmed that JCI has not made greater efforts to improve the safety of this facility where hazardous materials are stored and moved through for transit to other locations,” wrote Congresswoman Barragán. “These conditions are unsafe and unacceptable.”
Read the full letter HERE.
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