Refinery faces clean-air charges
Chalmette facility is cited 2,600 times

Thursday, October 20, 2005

By Manuel Torres
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

A federal judge has ruled that Chalmette Refining LLC violated the federal Clean Air Act more than 2,600 times since 1999, by discharging more pollution into the air than its permits allow. The judge is now considering whether to fine the company up to $83 million or require it to upgrade or shut down some storage tanks.

In a ruling signed Oct. 14 and released Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance said the refinery, one of St. Bernard Parish's largest employers, surpassed its allowed releases of benzene more than 1,200 times and also exceeded limits for the release of sulfur dioxide and flare ups.

The decision was a victory for a St. Bernard environmental group, St. Bernard Citizens for Environmental Quality, and other state activists who filed suit against the company last year. It also comes as Congress considers relaxing Clean Air Act requirements to stimulate more refinery production as a way to quench the nation's fuel thirst, which has stoked higher gasoline prices since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit.

Adam Babish, director of Tulane University's Environmental Law Clinic, which represented the plaintiffs, said the ruling "should help" raise questions about Congress' proposal, which he called a "subsidy" to refineries.

"Why should the neighbors who live next to these refineries pay that subsidy? Why should the subsidy be that you can contaminate your neighbors' air?" he said.

The refinery is a joint venture of ExxonMobil Corp. and Petroleos de Venezuela. Refinery officials and spokespersons at ExxonMobil headquarters could not be reached Wednesday. The company has said in the past that the violations were not preventable and that the refinery has spent more than $100 million in the past three years to improve its environmental performance.

The ruling stemmed from a 2004 suit filed by St. Bernard Citizens for Environmental Quality and another group, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, alleging the refinery routinely violated its emissions limits.

Vance in February ruled the refinery had committed 34 violations. Last week's decision added 2,629 violations since 1999, including more than 1,200 excessive releases of benzene, a substance that can cause cancer, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The list also included 802 violations of flaring limits and 563 violations of emission limits on sulfur dioxide.

The ruling indicates the benzene emissions came from two tanks storing the substance at the refinery. The Clean Air Act allows fines of up to $32,500 per violation, or more than $83 million if Vance chooses to impose maximum fines in all of Chalmette Refining's violations. Vance could also issue an injunction giving the company a deadline to stop excessive emissions or shut down its benzene tanks, Babish said.

Vance has given the two sides two weeks to file arguments on the possible impact of Katrina "on the propriety of an injunction." It's unclear when she may announce any penalties against the refinery.

Manuel Torres can be reached at mtorres@timespicayune.com or at (504) 352-2543.

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