Exxon ordered to pay $20M for pollution

BAYTOWN, Texas — A judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a penalty of nearly $20 million for releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants into the air over the course of eight years from a complex it operates east of Houston.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner in a ruling Wednesday determined that Texas-based Exxon violated federal clean-air standards on thousands of occasions from 2005 to 2013.

A Houston Chronicle report said the finding is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2010 by two environmental groups.

The groups argued that Exxon collected more than $14 million in economic benefits by delaying measures to curb the emissions from its plant in Baytown.

They say the pollution could have been detected earlier using improvements such as infrared imaging technology. Exxon said it’s considering an appeal.