Houston Chronicle by Marissa Luck July 19, 2019
The Texas Attorney General office is suing Valero Energy for ongoing air pollution at its Port Arthur refinery in another court challenge for the San Antonio refiner already facing mounting legal and regulatory actions over its air emissions.
The Attorney General’s office alleged in the lawsuit filed Friday that the Port Arthur refinery has engaged in pattern of air emissions violations since 2014.
“For several years, the refinery has been plagued with continuing problems associated with operator errors and equipment malfunctions resulting in emissions events that emit unauthorized air contaminants into the environment,†the Attorney Generals office said in the civil complaint. The suit was filed in the Travis County District Court in Austin on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
The same refinery — located about 100 miles from Houston — has also been subject to action from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. It’s at the center of another proposed lawsuit being brought in U.S. District Court in Beaumont by a trio of environmental groups.
The Attorney General’s suit comes more than a year after TCEQ first asked the AG’s office to take enforcement action against the refinery run by Valero’s subsidiary Premcor Refining Group.
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https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Texas-attorney-general-sues-Valero-over-Port-14109689.php?
