• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Refinery Pays Air Fines: More Than 3 Tons of Ash, Mist Escape

Posted on: Thursday, 15 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Katie N Johannes, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Jun. 15--BP Cherry Point Refinery released tons of particle and chemical pollution into the air and failed to provide a required report, resulting in $32,000 in fines last month.

A valve indicating that scrubbers were turned on was broken, said Bill Kidd, northwest director of external affairs for BP.

The scrubbers were supposed to filter emissions from a petroleum coke baking operation before the exhaust was released into the air.

The broken valve was not discovered for six days, allowing the release of about 3 tons of fine coke ash particles and 650 pounds of sulfuric acid mist, said Jamie Randles, director of the Northwest Clean Air Agency.

Fine particles can easily be inhaled and cause respiratory problems, especially for the young and elderly. Sulfuric acid mist can irritate lungs and mucus membranes. It also contributes to the formation of acid rain.

But Randles said the amount released would disperse quickly enough that it wouldn't cause health problems.

"It just contributes to the pollutant loading already in the area from outdoor burning and cars," Randles said. "It kind of gets lost in the noise - but it all adds up."

BP paid the Clean Air Agency a $24,000 fine for that violation, and it developed a backup system to verify that scrubbers are working.

The company also paid an $8,000 fine for failing to submit a report that was required by a new federal regulation, Randles said. The report was supposed to instruct the refinery on how to respond to the release of excess emissions.

An internal company audit caught the oversight, Kidd said.

"We literally have millions of compliance points a year for the refinery," he said. "It's certainly in our policy to be in compliance 100 percent with those. They slipped through our fingers. We hope to learn from those and not let it happen in the future."

Reach Katie N. Johannes at katie.johannes@bellinghamher sald.com or call 756-2805.

-----

Copyright (c) 2006, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

Source: The Bellingham Herald, Wash.

More News in this Category