The company that operates a Freeport plant where a chlorine gas release triggered shelter-in-place orders Tuesday has a history of violating environmental laws, according to a KHOU 11 Investigates review of state and federal records.

Environmental Protection Agency records show the Olin Corporation, also known as Olin Blue Cube or Blue Cube Operations, has been in “high priority violation” status of the federal Clean Air Act every quarter since April 2023.

State regulators with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have fined the company $199,301 over the past five years for releasing dangerous chemicals into the air and permit infractions. In two of those cases, the releases “could have been avoided by better design and/or better operational maintenance practices,” according to TCEQ records.

Olin also reported other unauthorized emissions in Freeport—a total of 35 since May 2020. Those included two chlorine releases prior to the incident Tuesday. The company cited a “compressor seal leak” and “tubing leak” as the causes of those incidents.

Besides Freeport, Louisiana environmental regulators fined the Olin Corporation’s subsidiary $600,000 for a 2022 chlorine release and fire that reportedly sent dozens of people to the hospital. The state said the company failed to tell officials that chlorine levels climbed above emergency levels after a shelter-in-place was lifted.

“(The company) failed to provide the DPS Hotline with an updated notification specifying that the chlorine concentration readings were above 1.0 ppm at the fenceline or in the community,” the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality said in a compliance order.

KHOU 11 Investigates emailed Olin’s corporate media relations team multiple times Tuesday afternoon. The company did not respond to those requests for comment.