Los Angeles, Calif. — The EPA yesterday announced a settlement with Ultramar Inc., doing business as Valero Wilmington Refinery, over chemical safety violations under both the Clean Air Act (CAA) and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA).
While the company fixed the identified safety issues, it’s still on the hook for $270,437 in penalties.
EPA Regional Administrator Josh F.W. Cook said the settlement will make sure Valero improves safety systems and emergency response procedures at its Wilmington refinery. Cook was optimistic that Valero would upgrade other plants.
“I had hoped that Valero would invest in upgrades to their California facilities and stay in business in our state,” Cook said in a statement. “They will soon shut down at least one California refinery and leave. This will be a huge hit to gas prices in California, Nevada and Arizona.”
According to Reuters, Valero in April announced plans to shutter a 170,000-barrel-per-day oil refinery near San Francisco next year. The company is concerned about the state’s declining fuel supplies, high gas prices and a $1.1 billion pre-tax impairment related to its California refineries.
The safety penalties stem from a June 2022 EPA inspection at the Wilmington facility which identified violations of the CAA’s Risk Management Program requirements. The inspection found several safety problems, including that the facility had underestimated the distance that dangerous concentrations of chemicals could spread in a worst-case scenario release.
Underestimating the impact of such a release potentially leaves nearby homes, daycares, schools and businesses unprepared in an emergency. Accurate calculations are essential for emergency responders to quickly protect the public from chemical releases.
The inspection also found violations including inaccuracies in the facility’s equipment diagrams essential for rapid emergency response, insufficient analysis of how facility-wide power failures might compromise safety systems, failure to implement previously recommended safety measures, and omission of mandatory information in both operating procedures and incident reports.
The EPA also determined that Valero violated the EPCRA by failing to immediately notify state emergency officials after three separate sulfur dioxide releases in 2018, 2020, and 2021. Releases of sulfur dioxide require immediate reporting when they exceed 500 pounds.
The facility refines petroleum using hydrofluoric acid, a highly dangerous chemical. Hydrofluoric acid can cause severe, permanent health problems if released.
The CAA’s Risk Management Program regulates industrial processes that produce, process, or store more than 1,000 pounds of hydrofluoric acid.