Total USA pays $40m to remedy Texas site

30 April 2007 23:01  [Source: ICIS news]

WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--Total Petrochemicals USA will pay a fine of nearly $3m (€2.2m) and spend $37m on emissions control equipment at its Port Arthur, Texas refinery to settle alleged environmental violations, federal officials said on Monday.

The US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said the consent settlement with Total Petrochemicals resolves allegations that the company violated the Clean Air Act.

Spokesman Rick Hagar for Total Petrochemicals in Houston, Texas, said the company will add heaters, boilers, flares and sulphur recovery units to improve emissions at the refinery. He said the improvements also will include new technologies for improved leak detection and controls for the site’s catalytic cracker.

The Port Arthur site is primarily a transportation fuels refinery.  Hagar said a chemicals production unit is adjacent to the refinery, but the chemicals facility was not involved in the emissions settlement with EPA.

The agency and department said that once the $37m in emissions control improvements are made, the site will reduce annual emissions of nitrogen oxides by more than 180 tonnes, sulphur dioxide by more than 800 tonnes and carbon monoxide by more than 120 tonnes.

EPA said that under terms of the settlement Total Petrochemicals will pay further penalties if the Port Arthur site is the source of future flaring of acid gas or hydrocarbon gases containing hydrogen sulphide and sulphur dioxide.

The agency said that this settlement with Total is the first to include fixed penalties for future flaring of hydrocarbon gases.

By: Joe Kamalick
+1 713 525 2653

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