Shell Oil Company affiliates settle with EPA

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with three companies affiliated with Shell Oil Company to resolve Clean Air Act violations.

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, commented: “Fuel standards established under the Clean Air Act play a major role in controlling harmful air pollution from vehicles and engines. If unchecked, these pollutants can seriously impair the air we breathe, especially during summer months when they can reach higher levels. This settlement makes clear that if companies fail to produce fuels that comply with federal standards, they will be held accountable”.

Actions by three companies – Deer Park Refining Limited Partnership, Motiva Enterprises LLC, and Equilon Enterprises LLC, which does business as Shell Oil Products US – are alleged to have resulted in violations of the provisions of the Clean Air Act that ensure the production, testing and sale of high quality vehicle and engine fuels in the US. Specifically, EPA alleged that:

• Shell sold mislabeled diesel fuel – fuel labeled ultra low sulphur diesel (ULSD) that was actually low sulphur fuel – at two gas stations in Northern Virginia.
• Shell sold over 4.2 million gal. of gasoline that exceeded a fuel standard for volatility, known as the Reid Vapor Pressure level, that helps control ground level ozone during summer months. Gasoline with higher volatility results in increased emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which contribute to the formation of ground level ozone.
• Shell distributed approximately 700 000 gal. of gasoline from its Sewaren, New Jersey terminal that contained elevated levels of ethanol. Excess ethanol in gasoline can harm emission control, components on some vehicles and engines.
• Shell failed to follow various protocols for sampling, testing, reporting and recordkeeping requirements that help to ensure compliance of its fuel with federal standards. Shell proactively reported some of these violations to EPA.

Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/the-environment/21012015/shell-settlement-with-epa-099/