Posted on 12/20/2008 9:03:05 AM PST by NormsRevenge
Toxic air pollution spikes from California's 21 refineries may be sharply curtailed in the wake of a U.S. Court of Appeals decision Friday in Washington.
In a suit brought by the Sierra Club and other groups, the court struck down a 14-year-old federal regulation thatallowed refineries, chemical plants and other industrial plants to exceed pollution limits during start-ups, shutdowns and equipment outages.
Public health advocates in Southern California's oil refinery hub hailed the decision, saying that facilities routinely operate in malfunction mode to evade pollution caps.
...
The Environmental Protection Agency regulation amounted to a "gaping loophole," according to the plaintiffs, represented by Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm. The court agreed, saying the agency had exceeded its authority under the Clean Air Act.
"Under this notorious exemption, industrial facilities have been allowed to operate like a fleet of junk cars parked in neighborhoods, spewing smoke, misfiring, stalling and chugging," said Marti Sinclair, a Sierra Club official.
...
The Earthjustice lawsuit described clouds of toxic pollutants from Wilmington refineries during power outages in 2005 and 2007. The refineries could not be prosecuted because of the EPA regulation, the suit states.
William Tanner, a spokesman for ConocoPhillips, which owns refineries in Wilmington, Santa Maria and San Francisco, said he could not comment on the lawsuit.
"Our preference is never to flare," he said. "However, flares are federally approved safety devices that allow refining operations to shut down in an environmentally sound manner."
Local air pollution rules require industries to reduce flares by 2012. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has set up so that residents can be notified when flares occur.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Well just how the heck are you going to operate a flare without smoke when a power outage has knocked out your boiler??? Magic dust?
Mark
thanks to the anti-American sierra club.
This will raise gas prices.
Guess they’ll just have to evacuate all the workers and let it blow up.
Just close down the refineries completely. Who needs energy anyway?
The businesses should close down every single refinery in that state. Put all of those people out of work. Fuel now must be shipped in from NON-Socialist states where the refineries re-opened. At a HUGE markup. Make them pay $5.50 a gallon. Everyone else is paying $1.50.
Until socialism hurts the socialist, nothing will change.
Close the refineries and move to Montana - CA is committing suicide
Better headline: “State regulations will raise cost of gas.”
You don't get it. As the last power shortage there showed, California is entitled--to power from all the neighboring states, from Texas to Washington. And if any of them dare to charge full value for that power, they'll get walloped by the press and the regulators.
How often does this happen?
What is the environmental effect?
Does this compare with the volcanoes that are spewing fumes?
The bottom line...drive up the costs, drive up the costs, drive up the costs. These goose-steppers won’t be happy until we are running barefoot.
This is from an organic gardener, but, science is science.
Sadly, its not just CA commiting suicide. This is happening all over the country, but (as usual) CA is ahead of the curve. At some point the producers will just say you win and quit (or go to another country)—shades of Atlas Shrugged.
That may be only a short term answer. Montana, sadly, is trending blue (McCain won by only three points).
Wyoming or Idaho might be a "redder" option.
Total liberal insanity. Drive every bit of business out of Taxifornia. And keep spending and taxing.
Many will be voting with their taxpaying feet next election. This state is going down, thanks to RADICAL LIBERALISM. FOOLS.
What utter nonsense.
Pollution will be cut since refineries will be closing! That’s what they want anyway!
The liberal elite are further insulating themselves from the electorate, and it shows in their legislation.
The damage is still repairable if only voters would wise up.
The majority have now sold their souls for handouts from the state. They won't wise up.
How silly! They should just ban gas.....of any kind. Lol...
California is just progressing, ever more rapidly, into Northern Mexico.
Nam Vet
It is going to require subjecting all the voters in CA to extreme discomfort before they wake up an tell the environmentalists to STHU and go away.
nObama’s new energy secretary believes we should be paying $8 a gallon for fuel... clearly they are all too stupid to understand $4 pushed us to this teetering point in our economy.
Shucks. I guess they will just have to shut down the refineries. California will have the cleanest air in the world, but all the skilled and educated workers will have left.
Oh goody! At a time of global cooling and economic collapse, we will get less energy at a higher price. It is so nice to know the adults are in control.
Shut down all refineries in the state. Ride Chinese bicycles.
Just shut off their “evil-gasoline-CO2-producer” supply.
Back when M.T.B.E. was being mandated in our gasoline it just galled me to see the reaction of liberal ladies filling their tanks at ARCO who heard me complaining about the needless extra poisonous oxygenate and it's needless cost.
They would instantly shoot back, "it's worth it to clean up our dying atmosphere" and all the other bull crappola they learned in pubic high school from Commonist Unionized teachers!!!
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