Oil giant settles emission inquiry
Exxon Mobil has agreed to spend $300 million on anti-pollution technology to curb harmful emissions at eight Gulf Coast facilities, part of a settlement with the U.S. government that arose from allegations it failed to properly control gases flowing through its industrial flares.
The largest U.S. oil company also agreed to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and spend $1 million on a project planting trees in Baytown, the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.
Exxon Mobil’s agreement with the EPA, the Justice Department and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality put to rest allegations the company violated the Clean Air Act by allowing high levels of pollutants to escape its facilities.
In April, a federal judge in Houston ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a civil penalty of almost $20 million for violating the Clean Air Act by releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants into the air from its Baytown refining and chemical complex over the course of eight years. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Hittner had said evidence showed that the Texas oil company’s emissions from 2005 to 2013 put it in violation of the Clean Air Act 16,386 times.
At the time, Exxon Mobil said it disagreed with Hittner’s decision and the award of any penalty, citing its “full compliance his-
tory and good faith efforts to comply” with regulations.
In a statement Tuesday, Exxon Mobil reiterated that it complies with environmental laws, rule and permits.
“We have worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to address concerns about flaring and opportunities to improve flaring efficiency at our U.S. chemical sites,” the company said. “These investments, which include flare monitoring equipment and flare gas recovery systems, will help improve flare efficiency at these chemical facilities, which are among the largest petrochemical complexes in the world.”
Outfitting five petrochemical facilities in Texas and three in Louisiana with air pollution control and monitoring technology could reduce harmful emissions of volatile organic compounds from 26 of the company’s industrial flares by 7,000 tons a year, and reduce emissions of toxic air pollutants by 1,500 tons a year.
“This settlement means cleaner air for communities across Texas and Louisiana, and reinforces EPA’s commitment to enforce the law and hold those who violate it accountable,” EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said in a statement.
Exxon Mobil will have to install the anti-pollution equipment at five of its petrochemical facilities in Texas, near Baytown, Beaumont and Mont Belvieu, and three others in Baton Rouge, La.
That includes four plants that produce ethylene, used in consumer plastics, and propylene, feedstock for plastics used in car parts and carpet. The other four plants produce polyethylene, the most common plastic.
Exxon Mobil will be required to submit plans to minimize emissions of waste gases sent to its flare stacks and operate fence-line monitoring stations to watch for toxic air pollutants such as benzene, among other requirements, the EPA said.
“Exxon has been breaking the law and polluting our air for too long,” Environment Texas Director Luke Metzger said in a statement on Tuesday, praising the settlement. “Today’s announcement means they’ll finally have to make plant upgrades they should have made a long time ago.”