Refiners to spend $425M to settle pollution charges

Two oil refiners will spend $425 million to settle federal pollution-related charges made against them. 

Tesoro Corp., one of the country’s largest refiners, and Par Hawaii Refining will spend about $403 million to upgrade their pollution control equipment as part of the settlement, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Justice announced on Monday. 

{mosads}Tesoro will also pay about $12 million for local environmental projects and a $10.45 million fine. 

Federal regulators accused the companies of Clean Air Act violations at refineries in Alaska, California, Hawaii, North Dakota, Utah and Washington. 

The new equipment set for installation at those facilities address pollution leak detection, repair and flaring prevention. The work is designed to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and other pollutants at the facilities. 

“The advanced technologies Tesoro and Par are required to implement are the future for protecting people from toxic air emissions,” Cynthia Giles, the EPA’s assistant administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said in a statement. 

“This settlement puts new enforcement ideas to work that will dramatically cut pollution and protect communities.”

Tesoro told The Associated Press most of the new emissions upgrades are already complete or underway.