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Texas-based petroleum and gas company Chevron Phillips Chemical agreed in a federal court Wednesday to pay $121 million to settle alleged violations of federal air pollution limits at three manufacturing facilities in Texas.
The company violated the Clean Air Act and state air pollution control laws at plants in Port Arthur, Cedar Bayou and Sweeney, according to a U.S. Department of Justice complaint. The company denied breaking the law, but it still agreed to a set of remedies laid out in by the DOJ in a consent decree.
The decree will require Chevron to spend about $118 million on improvements at each of the three Texas facilities. The multibillion dollar company will pay a $3.4 million civil fine as well.
“The settlement contains technologically advanced injunctive relief measures, such as sophisticated instrumentation and controls and fence line monitoring,” Todd Kim, the head of the DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement following court proceedings Wednesday.
“The cutting-edge measures reflect the Justice Department’s continuing commitment to enforcing the law, reducing the impacts of harmful pollutants on overburdened communities and to fighting climate change by reducing the emission of greenhouse gases.”
Starting in 2009, Chevron made several structural changes to the units that regulate the release of toxic gases at their Texas facilities. These changes “resulted in a significant net emissions increase” of carbon monoxide and other gases, DOJ attorneys allege in court documents.
These alterations to filtering units “failed to comply with the various requirements” imposed upon oil and gas manufacturers, according to court documents. The company also allegedly failed to submit applications to alter the construction of the filtering units, as federal regulations require.
The consent decree issued by DOJ lawyers and agreed to by Chevron on Wednesday lays out specific changes to the units that must be made at each of the three Texas plants. It also details the permitting processes the plants must comply with to be released from direct federal oversight.
The company also must maintain “satisfactory compliance” with the provisions in the decree for at least one year to complete the terms agreed to in Wednesday’s settlement, and it’s required to deliver reports documenting their compliance to the DOJ on a regular basis, according to court documents.
Chevron Phillips is one of several oil and gas manufacturing giants based in Texas currently facing legal action over violations of regulatory standards. CPS energy, based in San Antonio, is in the midst of a lawsuit alleging it manipulated gas prices in the midst of 2021’s winter storm catastrophe.
Last October, West Texas Gas Inc. agreed to a $5 million settlement over alleged violations of the Clean Air Act and multiple federal safety regulations at eight different Texas plants.
“Chevron Phillips Chemical strives to ensure compliance, especially regarding flaring, and we are fully committed to environmental stewardship,” the company told the Observer in a statement.
“We are pleased to have this matter settled with the EPA and are making additional investments to proactively reduce our environmental footprint as part of our sustainability strategy,” the statement added. “The safety of our personnel, customers and neighboring communities is a core value of our company and we remain committed to responsible environmental management.”
