Martinez Refinery To Pay Air District $2.23M

Martinez CA

29 September, 2021

3:54 PM

Description

MARTINEZ, CA — Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company has agreed to pay $2,227,000 to settle violations at its refinery in Martinez, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District announced Wednesday. The $2.23 million settlement covers 58 notices of violation issued to Golden Eagle Refinery for air quality violations between 2014 and 2018, including the 2014 turnaround flaring event, when there was continuous flaring during Tesoro's 55-day turnaround, "in violation of multiple Air District and federal regulations, causing significant volatile organic compounds, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and methane emissions," the air district said. "Bay Area residents expect and deserve to breathe clean air," said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. "This settlement illustrates the Air District's commitment to enforcing air quality regulations and ensuring that refineries continue to follow all state, local and federal permit conditions to protect the health of our communities." Notices of violation are issued when facilities violate a specific air quality regulation or rule, and violators are generally required to respond to the notice within 10 days and submit a description of the actions they will take to correct the problem. These actions can include shutting down certain operations immediately or changing operations or equipment to come into compliance. In addition to the 2014 turnaround flaring event, the settlement announced Wednesday also covers various permitting violations; various excess emissions violations including crude unit vapor leaks causing excess volatile organic compound emissions, gas turbine and furnace nitrogen oxide emission control issues, failed source tests, tank seal gaps and other leaks, sulfur dioxide control violations, and visible emissions; and recordkeeping, monitoring and reporting violations. Tesoro, which in 2018 became a subsidiary of the Marathon Petroleum Company, will pay $2.23 million in the settlement, according to the air district. Marathon announced late last year plans to convert the Martinez refinery to one that processes renewable feedstocks like soybean and corn oil rather than crude oil from fossil fuels. The facility is expected to start producing renewable diesel fuel in 2022, according to the company. Marathon spokesman Jamal Kheiry noted that all but three of the violations occurred before the company took over operation of the refinery and said Marathon "is pleased to reach this agreement with the District to resolve these historical allegations at the Martinez refinery." "All the violations that led to this settlement have been corrected," said the air district, which is the regional agency responsible for protecting air quality in the nine-county Bay Area. "All settlement funds will be used to fund Air District activities such as the inspection and enforcement activities that led to this settlement." Bay City News Service contributed to this report.