Forum looks at refinery pollutants

By Jonathan Athens
Sun Staff Writer
The YUMA SUN
April 8, 2005

"You've got a balancing act. You've got to decide. Nobody can tell you what to do. "

That's what San Francisco-based environmentalist Denny Larson told an audience of more than 70 people on Thursday at a forum about a controversial proposed oil refinery for Yuma County.

The balancing act is whether the expected economic gain a proposed new refinery would bring is worth the pollution that the refinery would also create.

The controversial issue has mobilized supporters and opponents in the community, prompting petitions, debates, public presentations and letters to The Sun.

The forum was sponsored by Yuma County Citizens for Clean Air, a citizens group that opposes Arizona Clean Fuel's vision to build a 150,000 barrel-a-day modern refinery on vacant desert land 40 miles east of Yuma near Tacna.

The only available information thus far about the planned refinery has come from ACF, the draft permit and the technical support documents accompanying the draft permit.

ACF and state environmental regulators have said the proposed refinery would be "the cleanest operating" one for its kind in the U.S., owing stringent emissions standards and the use of new technology developed since the last completely new refinery was built in the nation.

One issue at the forum was how much pollution the proposed refinery would emit if it were built.

Larson said older existing refineries have been modernized as required by federal environmental regulations and some oil industrial parks have new refineries that were built from the ground up.

Larson said refineries emit higher levels of pollutants than what is outlined in air permits and measured by refineries and inspectors.

The draft air permit for the permit proposed refinery here, written by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, sets maximum allowable emissions at 1,891 tons of pollutants per year.

Late last month, the Environmental Protection Agency raised no objection to the draft permit which ADEQ has revised, adding more monitoring and emissions reporting requirements.

Neil Carman, a former Texas environmental inspector and now with the Texas Sierra Club,, said: "If we were to make permits truly protective of public health, it would be too expensive to build plants."

At a news conference two hours before the forum, Carman said the draft air permit does not account for emissions that come from start-ups, shutdown and upsets, which all refineries experience.

Carman said emissions during those type of events far exceed limitations set in air permits.

ACF spokesman Ian Caulkins said, "We are held by the letter of the law to fix any problems."

Regarding the draft air permit standards, Calkins said: "What's practical? Could you even build a refinery that doesn't have emissions?"

Before ACF can move their plans, an environmental impact statement, to be written by the Bureau of Land Management, is expected to be produced and completed late this year.

The impact statement will address the economic, social and environmental impacts of the proposed refinery.

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