Nick Snow
Washington Editor
WASHINGTON, DC, Jan. 16 -- Sinclair Oil Corp. agreed to pay a $2.45 million fine and spend more than $72 million to upgrade pollution controls as it settled federal charges that it violated the Clean Air Act at three of its refineries.
The US Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency jointly announced the settlement on Jan. 15. It involved alleged violations at Sinclair's refineries in Casper and Sinclair, Wyo., and in Tulsa.
Sinclair will be required to install new pollution controls at the plants that will reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by about 1,100 tons/year and sulfur dioxide discharges by nearly 4,600 tons/year when fully implemented, DOJ and EPA said in a joint announcement.
The new controls also will reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds and particulate matter from each of the refineries, the federal regulators added. They indicated that the three refineries have a total capacity of 160,000 b/d.
Sinclair also agreed to spend $150,000 on supplemental environmental projects in Oklahoma, including $100,000 to install new controls to reduce emissions of particulate matter from the City of Tulsa's municipal trash trucks, DOJ and EPA said.
They said Wyoming and Oklahoma joined in the consent decree and will share portions of the civil penalty with EPA. The consent decree, lodged in US District Court for the District of Wyoming, is subject to a 30-day comment period and approval by the federal court.
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