Motiva fined; PA to benefit

Unreported and excessive emissions released from Motiva Enterprise LLC in Port Arthur has placed hefty financial penalties on the company from the Texas Commission of Environmental Quality.

In 2003, TCEQ conducted three investigations into Motiva's records that has resulted in an Agreed Order, signed on Thursday, that will cost the petroleum refinery $656,397.

Violations include failure to prevent unauthorized emissions, failure to properly operate pollution control equipment, failure to properly submit initial notification for reportable emission event and failure to properly submit final reports for emission events.

In response to the environmental violations, Richard Strouse, an environmental manager at Motiva, said the emissions are nothing the community needs to be worried about.

"Looking at the incident reporting, everything was administrative in nature and no environmental impact," Strouse said.

The unreported emissions released by Motiva included carbon monoxide, volatile organic compound, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, Terry Clawson, spokesman for TCEQ said.

"A lot (speaking about pollutants) are permitted in certain amounts, but Motiva exceeded the limits and failed to report the incident," Clawson said.

Penalties were also placed on 42 other regulated refineries for air, water and waste environmental violations totaling $986,139.

Similar to the Agreed Order BASF Fina Petrochemicals LP signed in March, the fines paid by the 43 companies will be divided between Austin and Jefferson County.

About two-thirds of the money will be sent to the state's general fund that will be used for environmental projects all over Texas, Clawson said.

The remaining $298,198 will be returning to Jefferson County to support several Supplemental Environmental Projects.

Funds contributed to Jefferson County will be used for the West Port Arthur Ambient Air Monitoring Station and $30,000 will be used for the Jefferson County Adopt-a-Bus project.

The air monitoring station will continuously sample and analyze the ambient air for a wide range of hydrocarbon species in accordance with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Adopt-A-bus project is designed to replace old diesel school buses with the modernized, alternative fueled buses.