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Bridgeport Petroleum Terminal Settles With EPA Over Clean Air Act Violations

Release Date: 07/16/2001
Contact Information: Mark Merchant, EPA Press Office (617-918-1013)

BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced that Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises, both of Houston, have agreed to pay $390,155 in penalties for alleged civil violations of the federal Clean Air Act at a bulk petroleum terminal in Bridgeport, Conn.

The terminal was owned and operated by Shell until Oct. 1, 1998 when Motiva took over ownership.

While inspecting the terminal in 1998, the EPA found that on at least two occasions Shell operated a leaking storage and recovery system for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the terminal's gasoline loading rack. VOCs, also known as hydrocarbons, react with nitrogen oxides, or NOx, in the atmosphere to form ozone, or smog.

EPA inspectors found that Shell also built an additional loading bay at the terminal without complying with federal Clean Air Act regulations, and Motiva later operated the loading bay without the necessary permits from the state of Connecticut.

Finally, inspectors from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection discovered Shell loaded gasoline onto barges on seven occasions without using VOC vapor recovery equipment resulting in approximately 22.5 tons of excess VOC emissions.

"With this action, EPA hopes to send a strong message to the petroleum industry that it must control the release of volatile organic compounds and it must get the necessary permits when building new terminals or making modifications to old ones. This is particularly important in this case because the Bridgeport terminal is located next to residential neighborhoods," said Ira Leighton, the acting regional administrator for EPA New England.

Motiva will pay the penalty in this case. It has also agreed to eliminate 22.5 tons of smog-producing chemicals from the air over southern New England or New York through the purchase and immediate retirement of NOx emission credits during the summer months. This will make up for past excess emissions.

In addition, Motiva is prohibited from loading gasoline onto barges without the use of a vapor recovery system. The company stopped using the new loading bay on Dec. 28, 2000 and will not be using it again until it has obtained the proper permits from the state of Connecticut.