EPA updates pollution regs for oil refineries

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the rules would protect the health of more than 6 million people who live within 3 miles of a refinery.

Paul Billings, senior vice president of the American Lung Association, said EPA should not consider cost but instead focus on protection of the public’s health and safety.

In a statement Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute said refinery air emissions were already at safe levels and have been declining for decades under existing regulations.

“Despite these improvements, regulators need to be thoughtful about the additional impacts of new regulations and added costs to delivering affordable energy to USA consumers”, said Bob Greco, an API refinery issues official.

“This conclusion demonstrates that the refinery hazardous air pollutant reductions have proven effective”, Thompson said. “It’s a really wonderful gift for the communities”.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District does not now require monitoring at the fence lines of the Los Angeles Basin’s six major oil refineries in El Segundo, Torrance, Carson and Wilmington, spokesman Sam Atwood said.

“Benzene is the most toxic substance a refinery releases”, she said.

The stricter standards mandate air monitors around refinery fences to determine what they are releasing into nearby communities. He won a majority, we’ve got the highest margin we ever had before, we lowered the deficit… but you know what?

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality declined to comment on the changes, saying it first had to review the 745-page rule. Long-term exposure mainly affects the blood by causing a decrease in red blood cells and can have bad effects on bone marrow, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These groups were represented by Earthjustice and the Environmental Integrity Project. But in recent years, ozone has exceeded standards by only 11 days a year on average. Those real-time monitors allowed facilities to see a release as it was going on and identify the problem.

“Some places have more robust systems already than what the rule asks for”, he said.

It also will impose new monitoring and operating requirements to minimize pollution from the burning off of waste gas, called flaring, and tighten emissions controls for certain parts of refineries, including storage tanks. Also for the first time, refineries will be required to have continuous monitoring set up on things such as flares and pressure relief valves. Green groups and health organizations say a tighter standard will help the environment and improve public health, but they too feel they could be left disappointed in the long-awaited rule.

When fully implemented, the rule will result in a reduction of 5,200 tons per year of toxic air pollutants, and 50,000 tons per year of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

“I have yet to see an ozone standard that has not been challenged by all sides”.