Tesoro to pay record US penalty for environmental violations at refineries
By KRISTIN JONES
Tesoro has agreed to pay a $1.1 million civil penalty to resolve claims that it failed to sample and test gasoline produced by its refineries, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday.
The independent refiner didn't comply with recordkeeping, reporting, sampling and testing requirements at four refineries producing conventional gasoline, in violation of the Clean Air Act, the EPA said.
The agency said the penalty was the largest ever issued for violations like these.
A spokeswoman for the company, Tina Barbee, said the allegations were primarily tied to the testing of gasoline batches and reporting their quality to the EPA between 2003 and 2006. She said the company takes environmental compliance very seriously and worked to resolve the issues.
The violations didn't result in known damage to human health or the environment.
But the regulatory agency said that testing and sampling failures can make it hard for the EPA to know whether the fuel has met environmental standards. They can also result in increased emission of harmful gases and damage emission control equipment.
In its complaint, EPA alleged that the violations occurred at Tesoro's facilities in Anacortes, Washington; Kenai, Alaska; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Mandan, North Dakota.
Dow Jones Newswires
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