Exxon facing federal lawsuit over Clean Air Act violations

Houston - ExxonMobile, America’s largest refinery, is facing a federal lawsuit from a group of Texas environmentalists working together at reducing harmful emissions created by violators of the Clean Air Act.

The Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter and Environment Texas said Wednesday they intend to sue ExxonMobil Corp. in seeking enforcement of the US Clean Air Act. In a statement released by the two groups, they intend to sue ExxonMobile Corporation “for thousands of violations of the federal Clean Air Act at its Baytown refinery and chemical plant complex.” The groups claim the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has issued controversial “flexible permits” to the ExxonMobile facility in Baytown, Texas, allowing the oil giant to persistently violate those permits. Neil Carman, Clean Air Program Director for Sierra Club’s Lone Star Chapter, said in the statement: “Exxon has had the benefit of running the country’s largest oil refinery under air pollution rules so weak they wouldn’t be allowed in any other state. Yet the Baytown refinery has still released more excess pollutants – above and beyond its flexible permit limits – than any other Texas refinery we’ve looked at, including BP’s.” The Clean Air Act contains a provision allowing private citizens who are affected by violations of the law to sue in federal court after providing the violator and state and federal environmental agencies 60 days prior notice. ExxonMobile maintains a 2,400 acre complex in Baytown consisting of an oil refinery and two petrochemical plants. The refinery - at 562,500 barrels per day - is the the nation’s largest. Residential neighborhoods are within a mile downwind from each facility, and almost 15,000 people live within three miles of the oil giant’s facility. The complex is about 30 miles east of downtown Houston. Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas, added in the statement: “The State of Texas has not only bestowed overly generous emission limits on Exxon’s Baytown refinery and chemical plants, it has compounded the problem by failing to effectively enforce even those weak limits. Because neither the state nor federal government has put a stop to Exxon’s continuing violations, ordinary citizens need to step forward now and enforce the law themselves.” The two environmental groups sent ExxonMobile their first notice of intent to sue on November 30, 2009 for more than 400 instances of equipment malfunctions, breakdowns and other non-routine incidents at its Baytown complex over the previous five years. These instances, known as emissions events, resulted in the company releasing millions of pounds of pollutants into the air and violation of the company’s permits containing hourly limits. According to the statement, a single emissions event, or “upset,” can result in releasing thousands of pounds of pollutants into the air in just a matter of minutes or hours. A second notice of intent to sue was sent to ExxonMobile on July 2, 2010. In that notice are listed several hundred additional violations the company allowed over regulatory requirements and permit terms. These new violations were taken from the company’s own semi-annual deviation reports. The violations include such problems as improper operation of flares, missing or improperly operated equipment, additional emission violations, and monitoring violations. The two groups analyzed ExxonMobile’s own reports to TCEQ and have concluded the oil giant has repeatedly violated the Clean Air Act. Their findings show upsets at the Baytown facility since November 2004 include approximately: • 3.5 million pounds of sulfur dioxide; • 6 million pounds of carbon monoxide; • 2 million pounds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); • 275,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides; • 60,000 pounds of 1,3-butadiene • 35,000 pounds of benzene The two groups have previously combined in two Clean Air Act lawsuits against oil companies. The first, against Shell Oil Company, resulted in a victory for the environmental groups as Shell was ordered to pay a $5.8 million penalty and make numerous upgrades to its Deer Park, Texas plant. A suit was filed in Houston federal court on August 18, 2009 against Chevron Phillips over upsets that occurred at its Cedar Bayou chemical plant in Baytown. The suit is ongoing. Texas continues leading the nation in emission of smog and particulates.