ExxonMobil Ends 2012, and Starts 2013, With More Unauthorized Air Pollution

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ExxonMobil’s Most Recent “Upset” Events Release Carcinogens and Other Toxic and Smog-Causing Air Pollutants

Environment Texas

ExxonMobil’s Baytown, Texas, refinery and olefins plant began 2013 the same way they ended 2012: with large, unauthorized emissions of harmful air pollutants into the surrounding neighborhoods east of Houston. A citizen enforcement suit to end such instances of illegal emissions has been pending in federal court in Houston since December 2010.

In the final weeks of 2012, ExxonMobil reported three large “emission events” – releases of air pollution not authorized by its federal Clean Air Act permits – to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). In one event alone, 57 tons of sulfur dioxide, a respiratory irritant, were released in just 18 hours beginning just before midnight on December 20, when a compressor “tripped” at the refinery’s Booster Station 4 unit.

This is the twentieth time since late 2005 that a problem at Booster Station 4 has resulted in such significant unauthorized air emissions that the company was required to report the incident to the TCEQ. Overall, compressor failures have been involved in approximately 70 publicly reported emission events at the Baytown Complex in that same time period.

And yesterday, January 8, yet another compressor failure – this one at the Cold Ends Unit of the Baytown olefins plant – spewed approximately one ton of the human carcinogens benzene and 1,3-butadiene into the air (in addition to 20 tons of other harmful air pollutants) from early morning into the evening, according to the company’s initial report of the event.

“Baytown residents have once again received the air quality equivalent of a lump of coal from their neighbor ExxonMobil this past holiday season,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas. “It is long past time for ExxonMobil to improve its Clean Air Act compliance record.”

“The same types of problems at ExxonMobil’s Baytown complex continue to cause the same types of pollution releases we have seen for years,” explained Dr. Neil Carman, a former TCEQ air inspector and currently the Clean Air Program Director for the Lone Star Chapter of Sierra Club.

Other chemicals released during these four most recent emission events, or “upsets,” at the Baytown complex include:

• 1,246 lbs. of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), an extremely noxious and odorous gas, during the Dec. 20 event – one of the ten largest releases of H2S from the refinery since 2005;
• 37,000 lbs. of carbon monoxide, 38,000 lbs. of volatile organic compounds (gases that include hazardous air pollutants), and 3,760 lbs. of nitrogen oxides, all of which are smog-forming pollutants.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, about 2,000 people live within a 1-mile radius of the Baytown complex, and 70,000 people live within a 5-mile radius.

Since late 2005, ExxonMobil’s Baytown complex has emitted more than nine million pounds of air pollutants during 333 reported emission events. In their Clean Air Act enforcement suit against ExxonMobil, plaintiffs Environment Texas and Sierra Club allege that these events – and literally thousands of smaller emission events that are not publicly reported – have resulted in many thousands of days of violations of federal emission standards and the company’s state-issued air emission permits during that time.

TCEQ requires industrial facilities to report emission events to the State of Texas Environmental Electronic Reporting System (STEERS). A facility only needs to report events that exceed a threshold amount of pollutants. Unauthorized pollution releases caused by equipment breakdowns, malfunctions, and other non-routine occurrences that do not exceed the emission thresholds are considered “non-reportable” by TCEQ. Facilities must, however, maintain a record of such events. Between October 2005 and the end of 2011, ExxonMobil experienced 2,158 “non-reported” emission events at the Baytown refinery and olefins plant.

A review of the STEERS database reveals that emission events in 2012 alone at ExxonMobil’s Baytown refinery, olefins plant, and chemical plant resulted in emissions of:

• About 47,500 lbs. of carbon monoxide (CO);
• Over 9,000 lbs. of hydrogen chloride (the most in a single year since 2007);
• Over 5,400 lbs. of H2S (the most in a single year since 2009);
• About 6,500 lbs. of nitrogen oxides (NOx);
• Over 206,000 lbs. of sulfur dioxide (SO2);
• Over 73,600 lbs. of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

And on October 3, 2012, television cameras captured a fire billowing black smoke for several hours at a cooling tower in the Baytown refinery. ExxonMobil’s final STEERS report regarding the incident identified the cause of the fire as “unknown.”

Environment Texas advocates for clean air, clean water, and preservation of Texas’s natural areas on behalf of approximately 5,000 members statewide.

Sierra Club has approximately 24,000 members in Texas who are dedicated to exploring, enjoying, and protecting Texas’ environment and natural resources.

The lawsuit was filed by Josh Kratka, a Senior Attorney at the National Environmental Law Center, attorney David Nicholas of Newton, Massachusetts, and Houston attorney Philip Hilder.

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