February 21, 2005—The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the US Justice Department have announced a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement with ConocoPhillips that is expected to reduce harmful air emissions by more than 47,000 tons per year from nine US petroleum refineries in seven states that represent nearly 10 percent of total refining capacity in the United States.
ConocoPhillips will spend more than $525 million to install and implement innovative control technologies to reduce emissions at its refineries. The company will also pay a $4.5 million civil penalty and spend more than $10 million on supplemental environmental projects to reduce emissions further and to support activities in the communities where it operates.
ConocoPhillips will cut emissions by upgrading its leak detection and repair practices, implementing programs to minimize flaring of hazardous gases, reducing emissions from its sulfur recovery plants, and adopting strategies to ensure the proper handling of hazardous benzene wastes at each refinery.
The affected ConocoPhillips refineries are located in Belle Chasse, Louisiana; Linden, New Jersey; Borger and Sweeny, Texas; Carson and Wilmington, California; Ferndale, Washington; Rodeo and Santa Maria, California; Trainer, Pennsylvania; and Roxanna and Hartford, Illinois.
The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period. To comment or for more information on EPA’s Petroleum Refinery Initiative and the 12 other multi-issue, multi-facility settlements reached in the past four years covering over 50 percent of domestic refining capacity, visit EPA.
