  |
|
|
|
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently fined BP Products North America Inc. a record amount for Clean Air Act violations in a refinery fire and an oil spill.
Not every investigation into corporate polluting has a happy, or even satisfactory, ending, but it looks as if at least two recent violations of environmental law will be punished with record-breaking fines. Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was socking BP Products North America Inc. with the largest-ever criminal fine for violating federal environmental regulations in Texas and Alaska. The penalties were for violations related to a catastrophic explosion that killed 15 people and injured more than 170 others at BP's Texas City oil refinery in 2005, and for an oil spill that spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude on Alaska's North Slope in 2006. BP was fined $50 million for the Texas explosion and $12 million for the Alaska spill. But that's not all. The EPA also sentenced BP to three years of probation for a felony violation in the Texas incident and a misdemeanor incident in the Alaska spill. Furthermore, BP must study all safety valves and renovate its flare system at the Texas refinery, and replace 16 miles of pipeline in Alaska. Those projects, along with restitution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the state of Alaska, are expected to total more than $423 million. "BP committed serious environmental crimes in our two largest states, with terrible consequences for people and the environment," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. The criminal prosecution, the first of its kind, charged that BP violated Clean Air Act regulations that require refineries and chemical plants to prevent accident releases of oil, chemicals or other dangerous substances. The EPA adopted those regulations in 1990 to prevent accidents similar to the one that occurred in Bhopal, India, in 1984. In that incident, a Union Carbide pesticide plant released more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas, killing nearly 3,000 people and sickening many more. The accident, considered one of the worst industrial accidents ever, is blamed for eventually killing more than 20,000 people. On March 23, 2005, BP's Texas refinery was rocked by a massive explosion after hydrocarbon vapor and liquid released from a stack ignited during treatment to raise the octane level of unleaded gasoline. An investigation determined that refinery operators had regularly disregarded written safety procedures, that the stack that ignited had been in poor condition since 2003, and that alarms either failed to go off or were ignored. In March of 2006, BP spilled more than 200,000 gallons of crude onto the Alaskan tundra and a frozen lake, the largest spill ever to occur on the North Slope. A second, smaller, spill of about 1,000 gallons took place in August of 2006. Investigators concluded that BP had failed to properly inspect or clean the affected pipeline, which then began to leak because of sediment buildup. They also found the company had known of corrosion problems in the pipe as early as 2004. If they stick, the EPA's fines might send a message to other corporations that environmental crime doesn't pay.
The copyright of the article Clean Air Act Can Have Teeth in Green/Simple Living is owned by Shirley Siluk Gregory. Permission to republish Clean Air Act Can Have Teeth in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
