Without verifying the harmful soot, Big Oil has sued the EPA against tests conducted by Reuters

By Tim McLaughlin

(Reuters) – A type of soot pollution in U.S. refineries has been unregulated for decades due to a dispute between the U.S. oil industry and federal environmental officials, according to documents from the Environmental Protection Agency, Reuters.

Delays in tackling so-called condensable fine particles mean that this pollutant is being released uncontrolled by various facilities across the country, and adding many other pollutants from oil refineries, the researchers say, has a disproportionate impact on the health of the poor. and minority communities living nearby.

The lack of federal regulations has led to an attempt to reduce at least one California air quality regulator against these emissions, and has sparked efforts to crack down on oil refiners.

Condensate fine particles are a form of soot that burns as a gas before it solidifies into particles when it cools. The EPA first proposed a method of measurement in 1991 that proved to be at least as harmful to ordinary lungs as human soot, which is when a solid is emitted.

The agency says short-term exposure to fine soot particles can also lead to heart attack, lung cancer, asthma attacks and premature death. Scientific research by the EPA estimates that combined condensate and solid soot cause more than 50,000 premature deaths a year in the United States, a finding that the industry disputes.

But the EPA has refused to set limits on the condensable form of the pollutant. The oil industry and its main lobby group, the American Petroleum Institute (API), have been told that the agency has not provided specific evidence, according to EPA’s independent reporting and review firms, API officials and the trading team. members.

The industry says the tests currently in use exceed the amount of condensable soot emitted by refineries under certain conditions, a mistake the EPA has acknowledged.

Major U.S. oil companies should not be sued based on the results of a faulty method. Chevron Corp (NYSE 🙂 told Reuters in a note.

Setting a national emission limit is unfeasible without a consensus to measure such emissions, as it would invite legal challenges for the industry, according to regulators and battery test analysts.

The EPA said in a statement that it is still conducting an investigation to measure the condensable soot in a reliable manner, but did not comment on the timeline for the end of the effort.

Greg Karras, an environmental scientist who has worked for nonprofits that want to reduce emissions from the refining industry, said the delays are dangerous.

“It’s inappropriate to wait more than 30 years while people are trying to improve a test to protect against this type of pollution,” Karras said.

Eventually regulating condensed soot would force almost all of the country’s 135 oil refineries to invest in new pollution control equipment, based on current emissions calculations, using the EPA’s controversial method of analysis.

SAN FRANCISCO IS REDUCING

The soot is made up of particles, which are much smaller than a grain of sand, which can enter the lungs and blood when inhaled. The EPA regulates solid forms of soot, which are easily measured by filtering smoke emissions. But because the condensed soot is gaseous in a gas burner, it is more difficult to quantify.

The EPA uses the current condensing soot test, called the 202 method, to use probes and glass tubes placed inside the refinery’s kilns to collect samples of the gas stream. It shows that individual refineries in the U.S. can emit hundreds of tons of pollutants a year, sometimes accounting for nearly half of a refinery’s total emissions, according to a study of regulatory documents submitted by oil companies to Reuters.

The material reviewed by the news agency is from 2017 to 2021 and includes the results of the 202 method prescribed by some refineries to meet local requirements or within litigation.

The API, however, says the test could result in high readings of condensable inaccuracies if the samples react with other chemicals that are commonly present in a refinery.

The EPA has acknowledged that pollution levels can be overestimated using the 202 method, according to agency notifications. The EPA revised the 2010 method to eliminate this bias. But the review did not fully address industry concerns about the results, which could be misleading as a result of the presence of other compounds in refinery grinders, particularly ammonia, according to a 2014 EPA memorandum seen by Reuters.

The EPA’s National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NYSE 🙂 in Ohio, which is responsible for finding scientific and engineering solutions to environmental problems, is now working with the API to resolve issues with Method 202 while exploring an alternative methodology, EPA told Reuters.

The long-standing problem surfaced last year when regulators in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes nine counties in the city of San Francisco, approved the country’s strictest soot regulations to alleviate pollution in neighborhoods surrounding its oil refineries. .

U.S. states and regions are often given the power to set their own pollution limits if those rules are as strong or as stringent as federal regulations.

The new Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) limits include condensed soot and require the industry — despite objections — to use the 202 method to quantify these soot emissions. The agency says the test is accurate and that the measurement of condensed soot has no effect on the presence of ammonia in the incinerator if a refinery is operating properly. The tougher Kedar standard will come into force in 2026 to give oil companies time to adjust.

Refining companies are fighting Chevron and PBF Energy (NYSE 🙂 Inc. against the new BAAQMD regulations in the Contra Costa County High Court, according to a civil lawsuit filed in September. Companies say the regulations would force them to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on pollution control equipment for their Bay Area refineries.

“The API and our partners support federal-level policies that follow science to reduce emissions, but the Bay Area Air Quality Management District is using the wrong approach,” said Ron Chittim, vice president of downstream API policies. Reuters.

Chevron estimates that it would cost $ 1.48 trillion to install a so-called humidifier in the Richmond, California refinery, a pollution control approach that BAAQMD wants the company to use.

The BAAQMD believes that its cuts would halve the number of deaths per year in the area due to soot. The regulator estimates the average death toll from Chevron’s Richmond refinery to 12 years and six deaths a year at PBF Energy Martinez, California.

The refiners questioned these data in comments sent to BAAQMD staff. The industry says the numbers do not take into account the life chances of the dead, such as smoking, and that the health benefits of the soot production reduction are excessive.

A BAAQMD spokesman declined to comment further, citing ongoing litigation.

NEW STANDARD?

It remains to be seen whether other California air quality districts, other state regulators or federal governments will follow the Bay Area path.

Democrat President Joe Biden’s EPA has said it is looking into whether to reduce the limits on soot pollution after the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump refused to do so. But the agency has not determined whether it intends to deal with condensable soot.

In Texas, the country’s largest refinery, the Texas Environmental Quality Commission said it has no plans to tighten restrictions on particulate matter, a spokesman said.

Elsewhere, the results of recent tests at two refineries observed by Reuters showed that condensable soot was an important part of the overall soot generated by these operations.

In Delaware, the PBF-owned Delaware City Refinery, 48% of the measured soot was condensed soot, according to the results of a May test by an outside consulting firm, which is a common facility that complies with federal air quality standards.

PBF does not want to comment.

At Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE 🙂 17% of the soot measured in Baton Rouge, Louisiana was condensable, according to an August test filed by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

Exxon declined to comment on the 202 method struggle. The company said it was “constantly optimizing our processes to minimize emissions and improve energy efficiency.”

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