Shell Oil Co. affiliates to pay $900,000 to settle EPA charges

In a settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency, three Shell Oil Co. affiliates will pay $900,000 for violating the vehicle fuel standards.

Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership, Motiva Enterprises LLC and Equilon Enterprises LLC, doing business as Shell Oil Products US, sold gasoline and diesel fuel that did not conform to federal standards under the Clean Air Act. 

EPA said these Shell companies sold diesel fuel that was mislabeled as ultra-low sulfur diesel, sold 4.2 gallons of gasoline that exceeded a fuel standard for volatility, distributed 700,000 gallons on gasoline that contained elevated levels of ethanol and failed to follow various sampling, testing, reporting and recordkeeping compliance protocols. 

Gasoline with high volatility results increase ground level ozone emissions that trigger health problems in children and elderly with asthma, and excess ethanol in gasoline can harm emission control components on some vehicles and engines.

“Fuel standards established under the Clean Air Act play a major role in controlling harmful air pollution from vehicles and engines,” Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Office, said in a news release.

“If unchecked, these pollutants can seriously impair the air we breathe, especially during summer months when they can reach higher levels. This settlement makes clear that if companies fail to produce fuels that comply with federal standards, they will be held accountable.”