The US Environmental Protection Agency, the US Department of Justice, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality have reached a national settlement with Chevron Corp. that will require subsidiary Chevron USA Inc. to implement safety improvements at all its US refineries.
The Oct. 25 agreement resolves claims that the company violated provisions of the Clean Air Act aimed at preventing accidental releases of hazardous chemicals that can have serious consequences for public health and the environment, EPA said.
Lodged Oct. 25 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California and subject to a 30-day public comment period as well as final court approval, the proposed settlement covers all four Chevron USA refineries, including its 257,000-b/d Richmond, Calif., refinery; 269,000-b/d El Segundo, Calif., refinery; 340,000-b/d Pascagoula, Miss., refinery; and 53,000-b/d Salt Lake City, Utah, refinery.
The settlement also includes a fifth and soon-to-be-shuttered 54,000-b/d refinery formerly owned and operated by Chevron, in Kapolei, Ha. (OGJ Online, Aug. 31, 2018).
As part of the proposed settlement, Chevron will spend about $150 million to replace vulnerable pipes, institute operating parameters and alarms for safer operation, improve corrosion inspections and training, centralize safety authority within the corporation, conduct a pilot study of safety controls for fired heaters, and make other safety improvements at all its US refineries.
Chevron also will pay a $2.95-million civil penalty and will implement at least $10 million worth of supplemental environmental projects involving supply of emergency response equipment to the communities surrounding the five subject refineries in California, Mississippi, Utah, and Hawaii.
The overall value of this settlement exceeds $160 million, which makes it the largest settlement in the history of the EPA’s enforcement of the Risk Management Plan Rule under Clean Air Act Section 112r.
The proposed settlement also resolves claims under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) regarding delayed reporting of an Aug. 2, 2012, hydrogen sulfide release from Chevron’s Richmond facility. The Richmond component of the settlement builds on the relief achieved by previous state enforcement actions, including a 2013 criminal settlement with the California Attorney General’s Office and the District Attorney for Contra Costa County, and a 2017 settlement with the California Department of Industrial Relations, Occupational Safety and Health Division.
EPA undertook its initial investigation following an Aug. 6, 2012, fire involving high-temperature hydrocarbons released in the crude unit at Chevron’s Richmond refinery (OGJ Online, Aug. 6, 2013).
During the course of EPA’s investigation, Chevron experienced accidental releases of regulated chemicals at two of its other refineries, including a 2013 explosion and fire in its Pascagoula refinery and a 2013 rupture at the El Segundo refinery (OGJ Online, Nov. 15, 2013; Apr. 22, 2013).
