API: Industry environment outlays top EPA's

The American Petroleum Institute reports the U.S. petroleum industry spent about $9.6 billion on the environment in 1995, or about $100/household.

It noted the expenditure is about $2 billion more than the annual budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

U.S. industry outlays

API said U.S. industry environmental expenditures declined about $1 billion in 1995 from 1994 because industry made most of its capital investments for cleaner-burning fuels in the preceding 3 years.

It said operational maintenance and administrative expenditures relating to compliance with environmental regulations increased by almost $500 million in 1995.

API's fifth annual petroleum industry environmental performance report rated performance by eight criteria: chemical releases, workplace safety, refinery waste management, oil spills in U.S. waters, underground petroleum product storage tanks, gasoline vapor controls, environmental expenditures, and used engine oil recycling.

The report is part of a long-term API program called STEP (Strategies for Today's Environmental Partnership) founded on 11 environmental, health, and safety principles the association set in 1990.

Michael Canes, API vice-president for policy analysis and statistics, said, "This year's report provides evidence, using objective measures, of continued progress by the U.S. petroleum industry. The industry is sustaining or improving on the gains it has made in past years. Refineries are releasing smaller quantities of chemical substances. Less and less oil is being spilled. And oil industry workers are continuing to experience injuries and illnesses well below the rate of the nation's workers as a whole."

API based the analyses of chemical releases, oil spills and workplace safety on federal statistics and the rest on industry surveys. Most figures are based on 1995 data, the most recent available.

TRI releases

The association used EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for chemical release data.

The oil industry monitors the amount of TRI chemicals present in refinery wastes. Comparing only chemicals that have been part of the TRI during 1988-95, the amount released from refineries in 1995 declined by 6% from 1994 and by 26% since 1988.

Releases of TRI chemicals classified as carcinogens declined by 29% since 1994 and by 46% since 1988.

Among major U.S. industries, refining ranked seventh in releases of TRI chemicals to the environment-after chemicals, primary metals, paper, plastics, transportation equipment, and fabricated metals.

Waste management

API said refinery waste management is a major goal for the industry because making cleaner fuels requires more processing of crude, resulting in more residuals.

It said, "Refineries are recycling more of their residuals, especially those listed as hazardous under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act."

Refineries managed an estimated 3 million tons of the 12 residuals covered in this survey in 1995.

Refineries recycled 54% of their residuals, treated 22%, and disposed of the remaining 24%.

Spills

The U.S. Coast Guard reported that 1.2 million gal of oil was spilled in U.S. waters from petroleum industry operations in 1995, down 71% from 1994.

The number of spills also declined.

API noted that in 1995, Americans used 6.5 billion bbl of oil, more than 272 billion gal, so a minuscule amount of oil was spilled compared with the huge amount produced and transported.

API said an average of 7.9 million gal/year was spilled in the first half of the decade covered by the report vs. 2.1 million gal/year in the latter half, a decrease of 74%.

Worker safety

API said Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that during 1986-95, the rate of job-related injuries and illnesses in the oil industry, per 100 full-time workers, remained substantially below the rate for the private sector.

During that decade, oil firms' rate fell 17% from 5.9 to 4.9/100 workers, compared with an increase of 3%-from 7.9 to 8.1/100 workers-for all of the private sector.

During 1994-95, the rate for the oil industry was up 4%, from 4.7 to 4.9/100 workers.

Tanks, vapors

API observed underground storage tanks must meet strict federal standards by 1998 to prevent contamination of soil and groundwater.

It said 94% of its member companies report their tanks already meet the 1998 standards for overfill protection and spill prevention, and all tanks are checked regularly for leaks.

API said service stations and other marketing facilities also must keep vapors from escaping when gasoline is transferred or when vehicles refuel.

It said 15 API member companies reported their 22,000 facilities continued to meet or exceed federal and state requirements to control those emissions.