Posted by Alex Smith on August 28, 2000 at 14:32:55:Chevron Settles Clean Air Charges (8/24/2000)
By Sherie Winston
Chevron U.S.A. Inc., San Francisco will undertake $1 million in environmental improvement projects to settle claims that it violated the federal Clean Air Act at its offshore loading terminal in El Segundo, Calif. The settlement also includes a $6-million civil penalty, the highest ever paid under the clean air law for a single facility.
The settlement was announced Aug. 23 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Dept. of Justice. The government alleged In November 1999 that volatile organic compounds -- a direct contributor to smog -- escaped into the atmosphere as petroleum products were transferred to marine vessels from underwater pipelines connected to the Chevron refinery. The same allegations were made by a private citizens group in a 1997 lawsuit. The government claims that company documents show that from 1995 to 1998, the facility did not use the pollution-control technology required by law.
"Compliance with the Clean Air Act is not optional," asserts Lois J. Schiffer, DOJ's assistant attorney general for the environment.
Under the settlement agreement, which must still receive final court approval from the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, Chevron will spend $500,000 to install leakless valves and double-sealed pumps at its El Segundo refinery. Chevron also will spend $500,000 to build and operate a health clinic in nearby Wilmington, Calif. to diagnose and treat respiratory diseases. "Besides paying a significant penalty for failing to control harmful emissions in the past, Chevron will improve technology at the terminal to reduce emissions in the future," says Steve Herman, EPA's assistant administrator for enforcement.