EPA Hypes Refineries' Cleanup, Then Misses Deadlines, LIES On Totals

[hatrack]

"The federal government has quietly allowed oil refineries nationwide to miss court-mandated deadlines to reduce air emissions, prolonging the exposure of hundreds of thousands of people to dangerous pollutants. In almost every instance, the Environmental Protection Agency did not tell the courts or the public about the deadline changes, even when legal settlements require it to do so, a Star-Telegram investigation has found.

"That's not appropriate. That's just not appropriate," said Sylvia Lowrance, a former top EPA enforcement official in President Bush's administration. "That information should be shared with the public." Because of the numerous revisions, the EPA's Petroleum Refinery Initiative has not achieved the air quality improvements that the agency has claimed, the Star-Telegram found.

The EPA credits the initiative with slashing air pollutants and has declared it one of the most comprehensive and successful enforcement efforts. Under the initiative, the EPA uses legal settlements known as consent decrees to resolve decades of alleged pollution violations. In return for installing pollution controls and paying a fine, companies are immediately released from all legal liability. "Settlements under EPA's Petroleum Refinery Initiative have reduced emissions of air pollutants by 200,000 tons per year at 48 refineries in 24 states," Tom Skinner, the agency's top enforcement official, touted in an October news release.

EDIT

But in reality, the reductions apparently total only about a fifth of that amount.

A Star-Telegram review of oil company data submitted to the agency and interviews with oil company officials indicate that the program, to date, has resulted in annual reductions of no more than 40,000 tons of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides and particulate matter -- the primary pollutants targeted by the initiative. When asked how he came up with the figure of 200,000 tons, Skinner acknowledged that such a reduction has yet to be achieved. "That's poor word choice," he said. "The bottom line is, once the controls are implemented that are contained in the consent decrees, we will achieve approximately 200,000 tons per year in emissions reduction. So, it's been achieved in the sense that there's a solid commitment to make it happen. But the emissions have not actually been removed from the air at this point. "I'm sorry if that was misleading. When I reread it, I cringed and realized you could look at it a different way." Skinner and other EPA officials said they do not know how much pollution has been reduced."

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http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/10400277.htm?1c