HF Sinclair Navajo has been instructed to pay a $35 million civil penalty and make a number of other changes to reduce emissions.
The company’s refinery is based in Artesia, New Mexico, and works with a refining facility in Lovington, New Mexico, to process sweet and sour Permian crude oil. HF Sinclair Navajo Refining LLC, is an HF Sinclair Corp. subsidiary and is the focus of the environmental complaints.
The Artesia location has been scrutinized by the Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED).
“This settlement reinforces the United States’ commitment to protect communities from illegal refinery benzene and VOC emissions,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Katherine E. Konschnik of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD).
HF Sinclair Navajo pays million-dollar civil penalty
HF Sinclair Corp. is based in Dallas but operates in multiple states across the country. The Artesia refinery reportedly has a crude oil capacity of 100,000 barrels per day to meet the energy demands of the southwestern United States.
The company will comply with the instructions to reduce certain pollutant-causing effects during processing. These include, said the Justice Department, changes to “flaring, fenceline monitoring of benzene emissions, wastewater, storage vessels, heat exchanger leaks, and leak detection and repair.”
These compliance agreements and enforced changes seek to reduce 80 tons of hazardous air pollutants, including benzene, per year. 2,716 tons per year of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), 51 tons per year of NOx, and 31 tons per year of sulfur dioxide (SO2).
The changes required to the current setup in Artesia are reported by the Justice Department, EPA and NMED to be an estimated $137 million,
“HF Sinclair Navajo’s failure to monitor and control the release of benzene, a known carcinogen, and other hazardous and toxic air pollutants posed a significant threat and potential health risks to the nearby community,” said Acting Assistant Administrator Cecil Rodriguez of EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
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