Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, September 30, 2010

BP Products to Pay Largest Single-facility Clean Air Act Penalty for Releases of Hazardous Pollutants at Texas City Refinery

$15 Million Penalty Resolves Federal Claims Stemming from Two Fires, Leak and Reporting Violations at Refinery

WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that BP Products North America Inc. has agreed to pay a $15 million penalty to resolve federal Clean Air Act violations at its Texas City, Texas, petroleum refinery. The penalty is both the largest ever assessed for civil violations of the Clean Air Act’s chemical accident prevention regulations, also known as the risk management program regulations, and the largest civil penalty recovered for Clean Air Act violations at an individual facility.

The settlement, which is subject to court approval, addresses violations stemming from two fires that occurred at the refinery in March 2004 and July 2005, and a leak that occurred in August 2005. During the three incidents, which each resulted in the surrounding Texas City community being ordered to shelter-in-place, thousands of pounds of flammable and toxic air pollutants were released. The settlement also resolves allegations that BP failed to identify all regulated hazardous air pollutants used at the refinery in plans submitted to EPA.

“The Clean Air Act is intended not only to prevent accidents like the fatal March 2005 accident, but also to penalize companies with poor practices that cause harmful air pollution,â€