clean air act

EPA fines Sinclair again, for Clean Air Act violations

Willow Belden — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:56:55 +0000

Once again, Sinclair Oil has agreed to pay a penalty for violating the Clean Air Act at its refinery near Rawlins. The latest fine is for $378,000.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s David Cobb says the company didn’t have proper procedures in place to prevent the release of hazardous chemicals, and that chemicals were released on several occasions in the past few years. Cobb says violations like this can be dangerous.

Kinder Morgan to pay $316,000 for Clean Air Act violations

Willow Belden — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 22:23:49 +0000

The energy company Kinder Morgan is paying a $316,000 penalty for violating Clean Air Act regulations at natural gas plants in Casper and Douglas.

The Environmental Protection Agency says the violations centered around improper handling of chemicals. The agency’s David Cobb says the company wasnot adequately testing its equipment and didn’t have proper operating procedures in place to prevent releases of chemicals. He says those violations had the potential to cause problems.

Sinclair Oil to pay $3.8 million penalty for air pollution

Willow Belden — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 22:40:47 +0000

Sinclair Oil has agreed to pay a fine of $3.8 million and install pollution controls at its refineries in Casper and Rawlins, to settle a lawsuit that the Environmental Protection Agency filed.

The EPA says the refineries exceeded federal limits on various emissions.

Sheldon Muller, a lawyer with the EPA, says the Casper refinery will have to install equipment to reduce nitrous oxide emissions by 50 percent, and the Rawlins plant has make changes to its flare gas recovery system, in order to limit sulfur dioxide emissions.

EPA Announces Air Pollution Regulations For Hydraulic Fracking

Irina Zhorov — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:41:54 +0000

This morning, the Environmental Protection Agency released federal standards under the Clean Air Act that will control air pollution from hydraulically fractured natural gas and oil wells.

This is the first set of federal standards to control air pollution from fracking.

The regulations aim to decrease air pollution caused by volatile organic compounds and other chemicals… and will also reduce the amount of methane, which is a greenhouse gas, released into the air.