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By Jeffrey Gold, Associated Press

The Thor plant has been linked to mercury poisoning in more than 20 workers, leading to several deaths and severe handicaps, as well as contamination of nearby rivers.

A federal grand jury investigation found that Borden Chemicals, based in Geismar, La., had been told in 1993 by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality that the material was not hazardous, said Justice spokeswoman Christine Romano.

Since 1990, South Africa banned the import of hazardous waste.

The United States requires companies to get permission from exporters before shipping hazardous waste to South Africa, Romano said.

In 1994, Louisiana officials consulted with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding the waste and determined it was hazardous, and Borden Chemicals stopped the shipments, Romano said.

"The Justice Department found no evidence after that time that Borden was in violation of federal law," she said.

Criminal charges require a flagrant intent to violate the law. Justice lawyers, along with members of the U.S. attorney's office in Newark, found no criminal intent, apparently determining Borden Chemicals relied in good faith on the assessment of Louisiana regulators.

To settle related civil charges brought by the EPA in 1994, Borden Chemicals agreed in April to pay a $3.6 million penalty and clean hazardous chemicals spilled at its facility in Geismar, La.

The general partner of Borden Chemicals, with a 2 percent stake, is BCP Management Inc., owned by Fortune 500 member Borden Inc. of Columbus, Ohio. Borden Chemicals is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and reported sales of $535 million in 1998.

Borden Chemicals spokesman Peter Loscocco said the company was pleased with the outcome of the criminal probe.

"In a nutshell, we cooperated fully with the government. We provided them with a lot of information, and we believe they reached the logical and correct conclusion," said Loscocco, speaking from a Borden Chemicals office in Columbus.

The South African plant of Thor Chemicals, a British multinational company, was a supplier of a catalyst containing mercuric chloride, he said.

Once the catalyst was partially depleted during processes at its Louisiana plant, Borden Chemicals shipped it back in drums, via a New Jersey port, to Thor for reprocessing, and then Thor sent back a replenished catalyst, he said.

"We believe, and continue to believe, that we did the environmentally correct thing," Loscocco said, asserting that the alternative would be to put the spent catalyst in a landfill.