Curb on refinery, chemical plant pollution

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Toxic air pollution spikes from California’s 21 oil refineries may be sharply curtailed in the wake of a U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Washington on Friday.

In a suit brought by the Sierra Club and other groups, the court struck down a 14-year-old federal regulation that allowed refineries, chemical plants and other industrial facilities to exceed pollution limits during start-ups, shutdowns and equipment outages. Activists in Southern California’s oil refinery hub hailed the decision, saying factories routinely operated in malfunction mode to evade pollution caps.

‘We are elated,’ said Jesse Marquez, head of the Wilmington-based Coalition for a Safe Environment, a plaintiff in the suit, noting that telltale gas flares and billowing smoke can be seen on a nearly weekly basis in the area.

The Environmental Protection Agency regulation amounted to a ‘gaping loophole,’ argued the Sierra Club and other plaintiffs, represented by Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm. ‘Under this notorious exemption, industrial facilities have been allowed to operate like a fleet of junk cars parked in neighborhoods, spewing smoke, misfiring, stalling and chugging,’ said Marti Sinclair, a Sierra Club official.

A 2004 report by the Washington-based Environmental Integrity Project titled ‘Gaming the System: How the Off-the-Books Industrial Upset Emissions Cheat the Public Out of Clean Air,’ detailed how the 1994 regulation was used by facilities nationwide.

Besides California, industrial areas in Texas and Louisiana have been particularly affected by emissions during malfunctions.

Groups such as the American Chemistry Council and the American Petroleum Institute had argued in favor of the rule, which they say is necessary for smooth operation of their facilities.

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— Margot Roosevelt