Compliance and remediation
Our environmental, health and safety (EHS) program is committed to full compliance with government regulations and our own worldwide corporate directives to help protect the environment, our workers and the public.
Violations and fines
We track EHS notices of violation, administrative orders and similar notifications (‘citations’) worldwide. Whenever a facility does not meet a regulatory requirement, management determines the cause of the noncompliance, takes appropriate corrective measures, and develops an action plan when necessary to prevent recurrence.
The number of government-initiated interactions at our facilities related to EHS (including, but not limited to, site visits or inspections):
- 2015: 92
- 2016: 67
- 2017: 107
The global reporting information provided below only reflects the penalties associated with government inspections and does not include, for example, self-reported permit exceedances or minor administrative errors. In addition, all fines associated with a violation are assigned to the year the fine was paid.
Recent citations history
Our internal records reflect that the number of EHS citations received by Bristol Myers Squibb include:
- 2015: 6 citations
- 2016: 5 citations
- 2017: 3 citations
In 2017, all 3 citations were environmental-related. Fines and penalties over $100K paid by the company are disclosed in our annual 10K report filed with the SEC. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 we had no events of this nature that required reporting.
Spill prevention
All of our manufacturing and R&D facilities maintain a spill prevention and response plan to minimize and properly manage any spill or otherwise unintended release to the environment.
Investigation/remediation activities
Like most major industrial companies, we are involved in a number of environmental cleanups associated with past activities. We invest resources to achieve cleanup in a manner that is environmentally and financially responsible, and use risk management techniques whenever possible to determine the most effective approaches to pursue at each cleanup site. Our prevention-based initiatives, such as product life cycle reviews and best practices transfer, minimize the potential for future environmental impacts.
Our EHS and legal staff routinely interact with potentially responsible parties, government agencies and community groups toward a common goal of providing cost-effective remediation that protects both human health and the environment.
Through the end of 2017, we estimate our share of the total future costs for these sites is approximately $62.7 million. In 2017, Bristol Myers Squibb paid approximately $7.0 million (excluding legal fees) for investigation and remediation of such matters, including liabilities under CERCLA, state and other regulatory authorities. We paid approximately $6.6 million in 2016.
In 2017, we had ongoing investigation/remediation projects at Bristol Myers Squibb locations in:
- Humacao, Puerto Rico
- New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Swords, Ireland
- Syracuse, New York