Best Petroleum Corp. to resolve EPA violations, fined $316K
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a settlement between the agency and Best Petroleum Corp. to resolve alleged Clean Air Act (CAA) at its Guaynabo gasoline storage and loading facility.
Best Petroleum agreed to pay a $316,721 civil penalty to resolve its past violations, the federal agency stated.
“This settlement exemplifies EPA’s commitment to hold companies accountable when they violate the Clean Air Act, and potentially put a community’s health at risk,” said EPA Regional Administrator Lisa F. Garcia. “EPA’s enforcement led to the company installing and upgrading equipment and proper emission controls to lower exposure to hazardous air pollutants, which protects the public’s health, workers and the environment.”
The facility, equipped with several above-ground gasoline storage tanks and a gasoline truck loading rack, is classified as a smaller “area source” under Section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), with respect to its potential to emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs).
Best Petroleum Corp. was found to have multiple violations at its bulk petroleum storage and distribution terminal. EPA Region 2’s investigation revealed that pollution control equipment at the facility was not operated and maintained in accordance with CAA requirements, leading to excess emissions of HAPs and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
These emissions may contribute to public health and environmental problems, including cancer and ground-level ozone formation.
In response to the EPA’s findings, Best Petroleum undertook extensive upgrades to its gasoline vapor recovery unit (VRU), installed new emission monitoring equipment for the VRU, repaired damaged pollution control equipment at its internal floating roof (IFR) and external floating roof (EFR) gasoline storage tanks.
These upgrades will reduce air pollution through better controls and increased monitoring methods, the agency stated.
In addition, to settle the CAA violations, the Consent Agreement/Final Order requires Best Petroleum to complete a Storage Tank Inspection and Maintenance Plan for its gasoline tanks to ensure compliance with CAA requirements and verify the effectiveness of the repairs.
The company is also required to complete two additional monitoring events for each gasoline storage tank and correct any leaks or equipment issues found.
