TRENTON
–New Jersey Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) Commissioner Bradley
M. Campbell and Attorney General Peter
C. Harvey today announced an Administrative
Consent Order (ACO) with Valero Refining
Company - New Jersey settling air emission
violations at its Paulsboro refinery that
occurred between 2001 and 2004.
“New
Jersey citizens have a basic right to
breathe clean air,” Acting Governor
Richard J. Codey said. “Polluters
need to stand up and take notice that
we are serious about improving air quality
and reducing the number of asthma cases
throughout our state.”
“Today’s
settlement is a tremendous victory for
New Jersey and will significantly improve
air quality,” said Commissioner
Campbell. “The controls being installed
at Valero’s Paulsboro refinery will
reduce the public’s exposure to
hazardous air pollutants, such as carcinogenic
benzene, and to sulfur dioxide that contributes
to asthma and acid rain.”
The
company has agreed to pay $793,000 in
fines as well as to install several emission
controls that will significantly reduce
emissions of volatile organic compounds
(VOCs), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and sulfur
dioxide (SO2).
“This
settlement will remove hundreds of tons
of noxious pollutants from the air and
will protect the health of New Jersey
residents, particularly children with
asthma and seniors with respiratory ailments,”
said Attorney General Harvey. “It
represents another significant step in
our efforts to control air pollution from
in-state sources. At the same time, we
are aggressively pursuing enforcement
actions against out-of-state pollution
sources, as exemplified by our recent
settlement with Ohio Edison concerning
a huge coal-fired power plant on the Ohio
River.”
Under
the ACO, Valero will install a $3.5 million,
state-of-the-art air pollution control
at the Paulsboro refinery waste water
treatment system to reduce VOC emissions
by 95 percent, including benzene and other
hazardous air pollutants. Annual VOC emissions
at the waste water treatment plant will
decline by approximately 150 tons.
Valero
also agreed to meet the enhanced requirements
for benzene waste reduction at its Paulsboro
refinery. By changing its management practices,
the Paulsboro refinery will eliminate
almost six tons of stray benzene emissions
annually.
The
Paulsboro facility will also implement
the VOC enhanced leak detection and repair
(LDAR) program. This will further reduce
stray VOC emissions from the facility.
The enhanced program cuts VOC concentration
in half from what is now required under
the current federal LDAR program.
Valero
has already installed a state-of-the-art
emissions control scrubber system at the
Paulsboro refinery that is the first of
its kind in North America and the second
of its kind in the world. This system
began operation in October 2004 and is
reducing SO2 emissions by over 1,000 tons
annually.
In
addition, Valero has agreed to install
still further technologies on its boilers
and heaters at the Paulsboro facility
to meet federal standards that are not
currently applicable to these units. These
technologies will reduce annual SO2 emissions
by at least another 500 tons beyond the
reductions already achieved by the scrubber
system."
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