Two Refiners to Spend $400 Million on Pollution Control to Settle EPA Case
July 18 2016 - 6:00PM
Dow Jones News
Refiners Tesoro Corp. and Par Hawaii Refining agreed to spend
more than $400 million on equipment to control pollution at six
U.S. oil refineries under a legal settlement with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice
announced Monday.
The government had alleged that Tesoro and Par violated
provisions of the Clean Air Act at refineries in Alaska,
California, Hawaii, North Dakota, Utah and Washington. Under the
terms of the deal, the refiners will have to install equipment to
minimize flaring of hazardous gases and to improve leak-detection
and repair programs, among other measures.
Tesoro also agreed to pay a $10.45 million civil penalty and to
implement projects aimed at mitigating pollution, including
spending $1 million to help buy natural-gas-powered school buses in
northern California.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA, which brought the
complaint against the refiners, said the settlement, totaling $425
million, would help reduce emissions in communities around the
plants.
"The advanced technologies Tesoro and Par are required to
implement are the future for protecting people from toxic air
emissions," said Cynthia Giles, EPA assistant administrator for
enforcement and compliance assurance. "This settlement puts new
enforcement ideas to work that will dramatically cut pollution and
protect communities."
Tesoro, based in San Antonio, operates five of the refineries
covered by the settlement. The sixth, in Kapolei, Hawaii, was owned
by Tesoro until 2013, when Par Pacific Holdings Inc., the parent of
Par Hawaii Refining, purchased it.
Tesoro said that it is already implementing most of the
emissions projects required under the settlement: It will have just
$75 million of work to do after this year.
"We take compliance with environmental regulations very
seriously and are pleased to have reached agreement on this consent
decree that allows us to fully implement the required procedures
and investments to further improve our environmental performance,"
said Keith Casey, Tesoro's executive vice president of
operations.
Par Pacific Holdings said it would expand a refinery turnaround
at its Hawaii plant to make the required improvements. The company
said that Tesoro will reimburse Par for expenditures related to the
settlement, an estimated $30 million.
Write to Alison Sider at alison.sider@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 18, 2016 17:45 ET (21:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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