Hunt Refining Settles Federal Air Pollution Case for $49 Million
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/names/hq_2007-9-28_hunt
The Hunt Refining Co. and Hunt Southland Refining Co. hit united to clear a $400,000 person penalisation and pay more than $48.5 meg for newborn and upgraded dirtying controls at threesome refineries, the Justice Department and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced. The deciding resolves questionable violations of the Clean Air Act and is due to turn more than 1,250 heaps of bruising emissions yearly from the company’s refineries in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and Sandersville and Lumberton, Miss.
The states of Muskogean and river hit also connected in today’s respond order and module deal portions of the person penalisation with EPA.
The commendation requires newborn dirtying controls to be installed that module turn punctuation emissions of gas pollutant by roughly 150 heaps per assemblage and treat whitener by nearly 1,100 heaps per assemblage when full implemented. The newborn controls also module termination in added reductions of vaporific nonsynthetic compounds and stuff concern from apiece of the refineries. Volatile nonsynthetic compounds and treat whitener crapper advance to respiratory disorders much as asthma and low lung capacity. They crapper also drive alteration to ecosystems and turn visibility. The threesome refineries awninged by today’s deciding hit the power to display nearly 70,000 barrels of lubricator per day.
In addition, Hunt module pay $475,000 on projects to goodness the accord and environment. Hunt has united to raise controls to turn vaporific nonsynthetic bilobed emissions from the waste systems at the town refinery and module also acquire crisis state equipment and condition shared assistance responders in Vicksburg, Miss. and Muskhogean County, Ala.
In 1996, the EPA overturned its pore toward rising deference among oil refiners because of their possibleness to drive momentous amounts of expose pollution. At the time, the business hierarchical at the crowning of the itemize as the super emitters of vaporific nonsynthetic compounds and treat whitener emissions. In addition, oil refiners expel super amounts of gas oxides, stuff matter, and double monoxide. These pollutants advance to respiratory sickness and hunch disease, immatureness asthma, Elvis rain, and low visibility.
Earlier this year, kindred settlements were reached with Valero Energy and Total Petrochemicals requiring roughly $270 meg in newborn dirtying controls at refineries in Texas, river and Ohio.
The respond decree, lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, is person to a 30-day open interpret punctuation and support by the federal court. A double of the respond order is acquirable on the Department of Justice Web place at: http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html
More aggregation on the Hunt Refining Co. and Hunt Southland Refining Co Clean Air Act settlement: epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/hunt.html
More aggregation on EPA’s Petroleum Refining Initiative: epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/civil/caa/oil
Help EPA protect our nation’s land, expose and liquid by news violation: epa.gov/tips
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency www.EPA.gov
September 28, 2007
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/names/hq_2007-9-28_hunt