Issued: Sep 27, 2022 (4:26pm EDT)

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EPA's Clean Air Act Enforcement Action Will Result in $1.3 Million of Fixes at Puerto Rico Petroleum Storage Facility

EPA's Clean Air Act Enforcement Action Will Result in $1.3 Million of Fixes at Puerto Rico Petroleum Storage Facility

 

Contacts: John Senn, 212-637-3662, senn.john@epa.gov; Brenda Reyes, reyes.brenda@epa.gov, 787-977-5869

PUERTO RICO (Sept. 27, 2022) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced that TotalEnergies Marketing Puerto Rico Corp. will implement compliance measures valued at approximately $1.3 million to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act at its petroleum storage facility in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The settlement requires measures and actions to resolve serious problems and inadequate maintenance at the company's petroleum storage facility in Guaynabo. The company will also pay a civil penalty of $500,000.

"Reducing risks from releases of hazardous substances at industrial and chemical facilities such as Total Energies is a top priority for EPA. This settlement requires Total Energies to manage its storage tanks in a way that protects people living and working near their facility," said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. "Proper maintenance, operations and equipment at petroleum facilities is essential to controlling emissions of chemicals such as benzene, xylene and toluene. Reducing risks from releases of hazardous substances at industrial and chemical facilities is a top priority for EPA."

TotalEnergies operates a large bulk storage facility in Guaynabo. EPA issued a Clean Air Act emergency order to the company in 2019 for its failure to adequately respond when it was informed by EPA that its gasoline storage operation resulted in vapor concentrations high enough to pose unacceptable fire and explosion risks. The company previously addressed the immediate dangers posed by its facility.

The violations addressed in the settlement include failure to use good air pollution control practices at the petroleum storage tanks; failure to follow regulatory requirements after liquid was found on an internal floating roof within one petroleum storage tank; and violations related to the vapor recovery system at the site's truck loading racks, which resulted in excess emissions of hazardous air pollutants.

Under the settlement, the company must replace parts of some tanks that are defective before using them further and improve monitoring. vapor concentrations in tanks build to a certain level. This includes repairing or making operational adjustments to the tanks or removing tanks from service, as well as safety testing. The settlement includes other improvement measures and reporting to EPA.

Total is a subsidiary of The Total Group, a large global petroleum company. In addition to the Guaynabo bulk storage facility, Total also has a network of approximately 210 retail gas stations across Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and approval by the federal court. Once it is published in the Federal Register, a copy of the consent decree will be available on the Justice Department web site.

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