EPA v. TOSCO REFINING

Case summary

5 VIOLATIONS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, BY DATE OF VIOLATION: SURVEY VIOLATION, AND EPA INSPECTIONS. WAIVER WILL BE SOUG 1. FOR $400,000 VIOLATION FROM DOJ. DECEMBER, 1997 - LOS ANGELES REFINERY - SELF-REPORTED TOSCO' S LOS ANGELES REFINERY SELF-REPORTED 1 BATCH (3,518,088 GALLONS) O F RBOB BELOW THE PER-GALLON STANDARD OF 15.0% FOR TOXICS RED UCTION. TOSCO DISCOVERED THE ERROR DURING A ROUTINE CHECK ON 12/5/97 AND REPORTED IT BY TELEPHONE TO EPA ON 12/5/97 WITH A FOLLOW-UP LETTER DATED 12/12/97. THE ERROR OCCURRED BECA USE OF A MISCALCULATION OF OXYGEN CONTENT. HOWEVER, THE ANN UAL AVERAGE TOXICS REDUCTION WAS WELL WITHIN COMPLIANCE IF T OSCO USED AVERAGED STANDARDS INSTEAD OF THE PER GALLON STAND ARD. (TOSCO = 18.9 %, STANDARD = 16.5 %) THEREFORE, THIS SHO ULD MORE PROPERLY BE TREATED AS A REPORTING VIOLATION. PENAL TY: ONE LEVEL A VIOLATION: FAILURE TO REPORT - $10,000 MITI GATION: TOSCO HAS TAKEN MEASURES TO PREVENT RECURRENCE: (A)T HE AUTOMATED COMPLIANCE TRACKING PROGRAM NOW IDENTIFIES FEAS FEASIBLE RANGES FOR EACH PARAMETER; (B) TWO PEOPLE NOW PERFO RM THE TOXICS REDUCTION CALCULATION, AND (C) THE SHIFT SUPER VISOR MUST CROSS-CHECK THE CALCULATION BEFORE APPROVING A BL END. 2. EPA INSPECTION AT PHILADELPHIA TERMINAL: A 5/12/98 EPA I NSPECTION AT THE TOSCO'S PHILADELPHIA TERMINAL FACILITY, (LO CATED VOC REGION 2, A COVERED AREA UNDER THE RFG PROGRAM) FO UND THE TOP 5' OF PREMIUM GASOLINE BEING SOLD FROM TANK #131 2 IN VIOLATION. AVERAGED RESULTS=5.2 % VOC REDUCTION, A VIOL ATION OF 7.9% BELOW THE STANDARD OF 13.1%. TOSCO'S TANK TAB LE SHOWS THAT 5' OF PRODUCT = 105,815 GALLONS OF GASOLINE. P ENALTY:$32,000. MITIGATION WITH EPA APPROVAL, TOSCO IMPLEM ENTED PROCEDURES TO PREVENT THE SALE OF THE UPPER TEN FEET O F GASOLINE UNTIL SEPTEMBER 15, 1998. 3. RFGSA SURVEY - UNION HILL EXXON EPA LABORATORY ANALYSIS O F A 8/12/98 RFG SURVEY INSPECTION AT UNION HILL EXXON, NJ, A COVERED AREA UNDER THE RFG PROGRAM SHOWED A VOC REDUCTION V IOLATION. EPA'S 9/10/98 FOLLOW-UP INSPECTION SHOWED A 6 A.M. EFIN VERY OF 3,370 GALLONS OF PREMIUM GASOLINE FROM TOSCO TE E200/300ANK #223 ON AUGUST 12, 1998. EPA'S 9/16/98 FOLLOW-UP BENZ/300ION OF TOSCO'S LINDEN, NJ TERMINAL FOUND THAT THE GA BENZNE CAME FROM SHORE TANK 356. EPA LABORATORY ANALYSIS ON SEPTEMBER 22, 1998 OF TOSCO'S RETAIN FROM TANK 356 (BATCH 38 5) SHOWED A VOC REDUCTION OF 10.0 %. THIS IS 3.1 BELOW THE STANDARD OF 13.1 VOC % REDUCTION. TOSCO REPORTED THE BATCH VOLUME AS 4,211,592 GALLONS. TOSCO ARGUES THAT THEIR SGS TE ST RESULTS SHOW THE PRODUCT IN COMPLIANCE, AND THEIR SWRI RE -TEST OF THE RETAIN ALSO SHOWS NO VIOLATION. EPA RETEST OF NVFEL'S REMAINING RETAINED 8/12/98 SURVEY SAMPLE SHOWED A VI OLATION. SUMMARY OF ALL TESTS OF THE VARIOUS GASOLINE SAMPLES: SAMPLE: TOSCO BATCH 385 SGS 8/5/98 VOC 15.2 RVP 8.12 AROM 30.8 SULF 125 OLEFIN 11.2 E200/300 43.1/79.4 BENZ 0.46 SAMPLE TOSCO TERMINAL TANK #223 VOC RVP 8.3 AROM SULF OLEFIN E200/300 BENZ 0.4 SAMPLE EPA SURVEY SAMPLETEST BY

Defendants (1)

• TOSCO REFINING CONamed in settlement

Facilities (3)

• WILMINGTON REFINERY - CONOCOPHILLIPS (TOSCO)

  1660 W. ANAHEIM STREET, WILMINGTON, CA, 90744

  Registry ID: 110000476235

• BAYWAY REFINING COMPANY (INC)

  4210 G ST, PHILADELPHIA, PA, 19124-4821

  Registry ID: 110000872299

• TOSCO CORP, TREMLEY POINT TERM

  1101 ROUTE 1, LINDEN, NJ, 07036

  Registry ID: 110010684660

Statutes cited

• CAA 211 — Regulation of Fuels - Motor Vehicle and Engine Fuels

Enforcement conclusions (1)

• Tosco Refiningentered 2001-12-31

  Primary law: CAA

  Federal penalty: $183,000

Timeline (5 milestones)

• 2000-05-19Enforcement Action Data Entered
• 2000-09-08Complaint Filed/Proposed Order
• 2001-12-31Final Order Issued
• 2002-02-04Enforcement Action Closed
• 2002-02-04Compliance Achieved