FMC, Grace first in line of polluters to pay high price. (FMC Corp.; W.R. Grace)

FMC, Grace first in line of polluters to pay high price

Baltimore businesses discharging cancer-causing toxic air pollutants could be forced to spend several hundred thousand dollars for pollution controls, according to state environmental officials.

The equipment would be needed to meet compliance standards set by the state Department of the Environment's air toxic control regulations.

The regulations, which took effect September 1988, required businesses to demonstrate compliance for carcinogens and other highly toxic chemicals by July 1. The department is working to issue consent orders for those firms that didn't. The regulations, requiring businesses to prove toxic emissions don't endanger public health, apply to both new and existing sources and are thought to be the most …