In the Parlance of Our Times

Things happen...
Machinery fails. Substances combust. Flares burn. People goof up.

Sometimes, things go kablooey. Kablooey doesn't happen that often, considering the volatile mix on the petrochemical coast of TX.

In the parlance of our times, there are "emissions events."
Nonjudgmental Translation: Shit happens. Whattya gonna do?

Not that many people, as best we can tell, are all that upset about any of it. Gotta work. Gotta eat. We have cheaper gasoline that the people in California. Yippie!

Sometimes, wrists must be slapped. Shareholder value be damned!
The guilty range from the mighty multinational giants to the Girl Scouts. The recent tally:

The Dow Chemical Company; DOCKET NUMBER: 2003-1507-AIR-E; IDENTIFIER: Air Account Number HG0769O; LOCATION: La Porte, Harris County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: chemical manufacturing; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §113.130 and §115.356, 40 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) §63.181(d), and THSC, §382.085(b), by failing to maintain fugitive emission records that contained the minimum information required; and 30 TAC §116.115(c) and Air Permit Number 19921, by failing to perform quarterly ammonia sampling on the inlet wastewater flow to the wastewater treatment facility; PENALTY: $12,535.

BASF Corporation; DOCKET NUMBER: 2003-0222-AIR-E; IDENTIFIER: Air Account Number BL-0021-O; LOCATION: Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: chemical manufacturing; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §116.115(c), Permit Number 8074A, and THSC, §382.085(a) and (b), by failing to prevent the release of unauthorized and excessive emissions; PENALTY: $10,000.

Schenectady International, Inc.; DOCKET NUMBER: 2002-0971-IWD-E; IDENTIFIER: TPDES Permit Number 01961-000; LOCATION: Freeport, Brazoria County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: alkyl phenol petrochemical facility with wastewater treatment; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §305.125(1), TPDES Permit Number 01961-000, and the Code, §26.121, by failing to comply with permitted effluent limits for pH, phenol, and biochemical oxygen demand (BOD); PENALTY: $10,500.

Girl Scouts of South Texas Council dba Camp Wind A Mere; DOCKET NUMBER: 2003-1197-PWS-E; IDENTIFIER: PWS Identification Number 0840142; LOCATION: Alvin, Brazoria County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: PWS; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §290.109(f), (c)(3), and (g), by failing to comply with the maximum contaminate level for total coliform, by failing to take repeat samples following a positive coliform sample, and by failing to provide public notification for sampling deficiencies; PENALTY: $1,240.

ExxonMobil Oil Corporation; DOCKET NUMBER: 2003-1234-AIR-E; IDENTIFIER: Air Account Number JE-0149-F, Regulated Entity Identification Number RN102553336; LOCATION: Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: tank farm; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §116.115(b)(1), Permit Number 99, General Condition Number 7F, and THSC, §382.085(b), by failing to monitor 74 components in volatile organic compounds service on a quarterly basis; 30 TAC §113.230 and §116.814(a) and Voluntary Emission Reduction Permit Number 49131, by failing to conduct monthly visual, audible, and/or olfactory inspections within the operating area and on all equipment in gasoline service; and 30 TAC §122.145(2)(A), by failing to submit a deviation report to document the failure to conduct monthly visual, audible, and/or olfactory inspections within the operating area and on all equipment in gasoline service; PENALTY: $4,800.

ExxonMobil Oil Corporation; DOCKET NUMBER: 2002-0722-AIR-E; IDENTIFIER: Air Account Number JE-0067-I, Air Permit Numbers 19566/PSD-TX-768M1, 18277/PSD-TX-802, 18276, 1202, and 655; LOCATION: Beaumont, Jefferson County, Texas; TYPE OF FACILITY: petrochemical refining; RULE VIOLATED: 30 TAC §§101.20(1) and (3), 113.340, and 116.115(c), 40 CFR §§60.592(a), 60.482-7(d)(1), and 63.648(a), Air Permit Number 19566/PSD-TX-768M1, and THSC, §382.085(b), by failing to repair valve 3005 while the hydrocracker facility was shutdown; 30 TAC §115.354(2)(C) and 40 CFR §60.482-7(a), by failing to perform monthly monitoring of accessible valves following installation or discovery in order to establish two consecutive months of leak-free operation; 40 CFR §60.487(c)(2)(i), by failing to report valve 5922 in the semi-annual equipment leaks report for the period from July 1, 2000 - December 31, 2000; 30 TAC §111.111(a)(4)(A)(ii), by failing to record daily notations for 24 days in the flare log for process flares from January 1, 2001 - December 31, 2001; 30 TAC §116.115(b)(2)(G) and (c) and maximum allowable emission rate (MAER), by failing to limit sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions, by failing to limit emissions of CO, particulate matter of ten microns or greater, and NOx , failing to limit the hourly CO emissions from the hydrocracker stabilizer reboiler heater H-3304 stack during an event which occurred December 12, 2001, and by failing to limit the hydrocracker's fuel gas concentration of hydrogen sulfide to less than 150 parts per million by volume; Air Permit Numbers 18277/PSD-TX-802 and 18276, by failing to limit the SO 2 emissions from 14 emission points during events which occurred July 22 and December 20, 2001 and January 21, 2002; Air Permit Number 1202, by failing to limit SO 2 emissions from boiler 22 to the applicable permitted MAER limits during an event which occurred June 15, 2001; 30 TAC §115.354(4), by failing to monitor a pressure relief valve within 24 hours after it vented to the atmosphere; 30 TAC §115.352(2), by failing to repair valves within 15 days after leaks were detected; Air Permit Number 655, by failing to provide a carbon absorption system; and 40 CFR §60.482-9(a), by failing to repair a valve when the emissions of purged material resulting from immediate repair are not greater than the fugitive emissions likely to result from the delay of repair; PENALTY: $150,462.



(Next installment, recent emissions events.)