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Regulatory World
Petroleum refineries to reduce annual pollutant emissions by more than 3,900 tons and to pay close to $3 million in penalties
U.S. announces major Clean Air Act settlements under EPA Petroleum
Refinery Initiative
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department and the Environmental
Protection Agency announced comprehensive Clean Air Act settlements
with Coastal Eagle Point Oil Company (CEPOC), CHS Inc. (Cenex),
Ergon-West Virginia Inc. and Ergon Refining Inc. (Ergon). These
companies have a collective production capacity of approximately
285,000 barrels per day and will reduce air emissions by more
than 3,900 tons per year under the terms of settlements being
filed with U.S. District Courts in New Jersey, Montana and Mississippi.
These agreements, which will affect three percent of domestic
refining capacity, address nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and
particulate emissions, pollutants that can cause serious respiratory
problems and exacerbate childhood asthma. The refiners will also
reduce other emissions of hazardous air pollutants, including
benzene, at refineries located in Vicksburg, Mississippi; Laurel,
Montana; Westville, New Jersey; and Newel, West Virginia.
The four
refineries will install and implement innovative control technologies
to reduce emissions from their largest emitting
units. These activities will reduce annual emissions of sulfur
dioxide by approximately 2,800 tons and nitrogen oxide by approximately
1,100 tons. In addition, each refinery will significantly upgrade
its leak-detection and repair practices, implement programs to
minimize the number and severity of flaring events and adopt
new strategies for ensuring continued compliance with benzene
waste requirements under the Clean Air Act’s National Emissions
Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants.
“Today’s settlements mean we’re one step closer
to bringing America’s oil refineries into compliance with
our Clean Air Act standards. This means cleaner air for our communities
and citizens,” said Tom Sansonetti, Environment and Natural
Resource Division Assistant Attorney General. “Companies
that break environmental laws not only endanger public health,
but they also harm our precious natural resources.”
“CEPOC, Cenex and Ergon showed a commitment to work constructively
and cooperatively with EPA and its state and local partners,” said
John Peter Suarez, Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and
Compliance at EPA. “The settlements benefit not only the
environment, but the communities that were directly affected
by the pollutants. These settlements continue EPA’s ongoing
efforts to level the playing field for the industry.”
These refiners will pay civil penalties totaling more than $2.9
million and will implement supplemental and other environmental
projects valued at over $1.6 million to reduce idling truck emissions
in New Jersey and provide improved equipment for first responders
in Mississippi and West Virginia. The States of Mississippi,
Montana, New Jersey and West Virginia actively participated and
are joining in these settlements.
Experience under previous global refinery consent decrees suggests
that flaring at these refineries may be reduced by more than
50 percent. Flaring is a common concern for communities in the
vicinity of refinery operations, often affecting minority and
low income populations. Flaring is a high temperature oxidation
process used to burn combustible components of gases produced
by refining operations.
These settlements
are the latest in a series of multi-issue, multi-facility settlements
being pursued by EPA under its Petroleum
Refinery Initiative. In the past three years, several major refiners
have entered into global settlements that reflect similarly comprehensive
approaches for addressing compliance concerns across the industry.
The latest consent decrees, together with those covering Koch
Petroleum, BP Exploration & Oil, Motiva, Equilon and Deer
Park Refining, Marathon Ashland Petroleum, Conoco, Navajo Refining
and Lion Oil settlements, account for 37 refineries and 35 percent
of domestic refining capacity.
The Justice Department and the EPA also announced a separate,
narrower agreement with National Cooperative Refining Association
(NCRA). NCRA will pay a penalty and implement supplemental environmental
projects collectively valued at over $1.8 million. The State
of Kansas participated and will join in this settlement.
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