By OGJ editors
WASHINGTON, DC, Mar. 13 -- Lion Oil Co. will spend more than $22.3 million to upgrade its Arkansas refinery and settle clean-air rule violations, the US Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.
Clean air regulators said the company pledged to reduce air emissions from the company's 58,000 b/d El Dorado, Ark., refinery by 1,380 tons/year. Arkansas also joined in the settlement.
Lion, headquartered in El Dorado, will install new pollution control technology to reduce emissions from the refinery's catalytic cracking unit. The company will also pay a $348,000 civil penalty, which Arkansas will share, and spend more than $450,000 on supplemental environmental projects designed to reduce emissions from the refinery.
The settlement will be lodged with the US District Court in Fort Smith, Ark., for 30 days to allow for public comment.
"This settlement is a win for cleaner air, the public, and other members of the oil refining industry who have already settled with the government," said Assistant Atty. Gen. Thomas L. Sansonetti. "It illustrates our commitment to level the corporate playing field by assuring that those members of the refining industry who voluntarily agreed to install improved controls and meet stringent compliance standards will not suffer a competitive disadvantage. We expect other companies to follow suit."
Global settlement
This settlement is the latest global agreement reached among EPA, DOJ, and refiners to comply with New Source Review provisions of the Clean Air Act. NSR regulations require industrial facilities to upgrade pollution control equipment when major changes are made to a plant. Refiners say the NSR program in the past has been cumbersome and discouraged companies from making new investments. EPA is now streamlining the program, but environmental groups are challenging the agency's efforts in court.
Past settlements between the US and refiners include deals with Koch Petroleum Group LP, BP PLC, Motiva Enterprises LLC, Equilon Enterprises LLC, Deer Park Refining LP, Marathon Ashland Petroleum LLC, Conoco Inc. (now ConocoPhillips), and Navajo Refining Co. LP. DOJ officials say that with the latest settlement, about 32% of industry is complying with NSR.
DOJ officials say they hope to have at least 50% of the refining industry within NSR compliance by yearend. But industry officials argue that it is incorrect to say that most refiners do not comply with clean-air rules. In the case of NSR, they contend, the program has been confusing and inconsistently enforced.
