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Air Board Approves Rule to Limit Flares at 5 California Refineries

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Jul. 21--SAN FRANCISCO -- After fighting for two decades about a highly visible pollution source, oil refiners, air regulators and environmentalists welcomed a historic new rule adopted Wednesday to cut refinery flare pollution.

The Bay Area's air quality board approved the rule, which requires five refineries to develop emission reduction plans for flares.

It is the first rule in the nation to limit flares, a big burner.

Refiners say they need to flare to avert dangerous pressure buildups during upsets or unexpected conditions.

But refinery neighbors and regulators say oil companies have overused the safety devices as an excuse to dump pollution into the air.

"We've debated this for 20 years. The rule is long overdue," said Mark Ross, a Martinez city councilman on the Bay Area Air Quality Management District Board. "Open flares are good for the Olympics, but not for communities."

The vote to approve the rule was 15-1.

Chris Daly, a San Francisco supervisor, said he supported the rule but voted no because he thought a study on rule options was not thorough enough.

Many past public discussions on the flares were rancorous.

In contrast, speakers from different camps Wednesday said the rule is a compromise that will serve as a national model.

"This is the first and only rule of its kind in the country to comprehensively address flares," said Greg Karras, senior scientist at Communities for a Better Environment, a statewide group based in Oakland. "We want a stronger rule, but this air board should be commended for having the courage to adopt this."

Refinery operators can live with the rule, even if they believe flare pollution estimates have been overblown, said Joe Sparano, president of the Western States Petroleum Association.

"We believe we can safely implement the rule," he said.

Karras and other environmentalists said the rule should set strict flare emission limits for sulfur, a lung irritant.

But air board members said they didn't want to delay the rule adoption, as would happen if they waited for a new study to consider sulfur limits.

Board members said they would consider sulfur limits later.

Jack Broadbent, the air district's chief executive officer, said the rule protects industrial neighbors by requiring each refinery to plan equipment and operational changes to minimize gas sent to flares.

"The idea is to prevent pollution rather than burn it," Broadbent said.

The Bay Area refineries are owned by Chevron, Shell, Tesoro, ConocoPhillips and Valero.

Several West Contra Costa residents said they worry refinery pollution harms them or their relatives.

Lupe Garcia, speaking through a Spanish translator, said her mother developed asthma problems after moving near the Chevron refinery. Her mother died of an asthma attack about two years ago, Garcia said.

"This is about people's lives. Please adopt the rule," Garcia said during Wednesday's public hearing before the vote.

The rule will cost the petroleum industry at least $1.4 million and as much as $10.6 million annually per refinery, air district consultants estimated in a study.

Those annual costs amount to a range from 0.2 percent to 2 percent of the net incomes of the plants, the consultants said.

Refiners have until November 2006 to submit the pollution reduction plans.

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To see more of the Contra Costa Times, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bayarea.com.

Copyright (c) 2005, Contra Costa Times, Walnut Creek, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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