August 26, 2012:

LyondellBasell Industries NV (LYB)’s Houston refinery discharged an unknown amount of crude oil from a pipeline, a filing with the National Response Center showed. The crude was released at 3:12 p.m. local time yesterday and lasted about 26 minutes, according to the filing. The cause was unknown. U.S. refineries must notify the center if they release hazardous substances in excess of reportable quantities, according to the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly known as Superfund.  Bloomberg News couldn’t immediately verify that the information in the NRC filing was accurate.

By Bloomberg

August 24, 2012:

As BP finishes cleaning up the mess caused by a contaminated batch of regular gasoline distributed from its Whiting, Indiana refinery, fallout from a similarly fouled supply of premium gas continues to grow. The company said Friday that it was suspending sales of premium and mid-grade gas at some retail sites in Indianapolis after finding 4,700 barrels of bad gas was distributed from a terminal there.  "We think we've caught Indianapolis pretty early and it's a small amount," said Scott Dean, a Chicago-based BP spokesman. "We're hopeful that not much of the product has actually made it into people's vehicles." BP suspended sales of the same grades throughout the Chicago area on Thursday following the discovery that 20,000 barrels of contaminated premium had been distributed through a terminal in Des Plaines. Some retail locations here have resumed selling premium and mid-grade as of Friday, according to Dean.

On Thursday, BP said it had identified and corrected the problem that caused the contamination of a 50,000-barrel batch of regular gasoline that has damaged cars in three states since last week, tracing the source to the alkylation unit at its refinery. The unit also caused the premium contamination, which was pipelined to terminals in Milwaukee, Chicago and Indianapolis. More than 25,000 barrels of the bad premium gas was distributed to retailers, according to Dean. BP had planned to release a list of some 226 stations that received the bad gas, but instead will be forwarding it to the attorneys general of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin as part of a coordinated investigation by those offices. The number of affected stations is likely to grow, as Indianapolis locations are added to the list in the coming days, according to Dean.

Motorists who believe their vehicles have been damaged by the contaminated fuel can file a claim by calling BP's customer hotline at 800-333-3991 or 800-599-9040. Consumers can also access information and submit an online inquiry at www.bpresponse.com.  More than 16,000 consumer complaints about the bad gas have been received by BP to date, according to Dean. Jack Walter, 60, of Schererville, Indiana, called in his claim on Thursday after paying $826.34 at a Merrillville repair shop to fix his 2010 Toyota Camry. His wife, Nancy, put in half a tank of what they believe was contaminated regular at a Meijer in Highland, Indiana, one of numerous retailers supplied by BP's refinery. Walter was told he would be contacted by a claims adjuster, but has yet to hear back.

"I am frustrated," Walter said. "This is one of those circumstances where you don't do anything out of the ordinary and you have an extraordinary event happen to you. It's more irritating than anything."

By Chicago Tribune

August 25, 2012:

Chevron’s Richmond Refinery – the company’s second largest refinery – recently spewed toxic smoke over Richmond and San Pablo sending more than 14,000 people in the East Bay to medical facilities with smoke-related complaints. This is but the latest in Chevron’s legacy of environmental and community destruction. Chevron is the second largest oil company in the United States and the third largest corporation in the U.S. with $26.9 billion in 2011 profits. It explores for, produces, refines, transports and markets oil, natural gas, and gasoline. Major operations also include chemical, coal mining and power generation companies. But Chevron’s main revenues is from its oil and gasoline businesses. Chevron’s world headquarters is located in San Ramon, California. Its refinery in Richmond, California is one a the largest in the U.S. More than 25,000 people live within three miles of the refinery. According to the U.S. Census,about 16 percent of the residents live below the federal poverty line, and about 80 percent of the residents are listed as “minorities.” Within a mile of the refinery are businesses, houses, a school and playgrounds.

One of Chevron’s ads states, “Protecting the planet is everyone’s job. I agree. What Chevron is doing. . . “  Yet, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported the release or disposal of more than 600,000 pounds of toxic waste from the Richmond site in 2009, including at least 36 toxic substances, including more than 3,800 pounds of benzene, a known human carcinogen, and over 235,000 pounds of ammonia, repeated exposure to which can cause an asthma-like allergy and lead to lung damage. According to the California Air Resources Board, Chevron was the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California in 2009 and a high priority violator (HPV) of the Clean Air Act since at least 2006. HPV is the most serious level of violation noted by the EPA. A 2008 Brown University toxic exposure study concluded that the air inside the homes of Richmond residents is more toxic than outside due to harmful pollutants from the refinery, which can cause respiratory diseases.  In fact, Richmond had the third highest number of deaths from cancer between 2003 and 2007 of any city in Contra Costa County.

In addition, an October 2010 County Asthma Profile found that county residents, as compared to all Californians, are hospitalized for asthma at higher rates; have higher death rates due to asthma, particularly among adults ages 65 and older; and have higher rates of visits to the emergency doctor, particularly for children aged 0 to 4 years. For the sake of the community and the environment, it is time for federal and state regulators to force Chevron to use its vast resources to finally clean up its act.

Source: The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report released May 2011 by Global Exchange last year. The Report shows Chevron’s consistent pattern of using its vast financial and political weight to operate with blatant disrespect for the health, security, economic livelihood, safety, and environment of far too many communities within which it operates. Such as the gross human rights abuses by the company in Burma and Nigeria; environmental and public health devastation in California, Alaska, Mississippi, New York, New Jersey, Angola, Canada, Chad, Cameroon, Ecuador, Kazakhstan, and the Philippines; participation in a war for oil in Iraq; and great political and consumer price manipulation throughout the U.S. and globally.

By Fogcityjournal.com

August 25, 2012:

PASCAGOULA, Mississippi -- A dozen new cribs were delivered to Ingalls Avenue Baptist Church Child Care Center on Friday, thanks to a partnership between Chevron Pascagoula Refinery and the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. New federal crib safety guidelines mandate the replacement of drop-side cribs with fixed-side cribs by the end of 2012, and Chevron is providing the resources to help child care centers meet this requirement. The crib donation program ultimately will bring 180 infant cribs to 23 child care centers across Jackson County, and is part of Chevron's ongoing Energy for Learning outreach initiative. Child care center director Cheryl Cochran said the arrival of the new cribs would provide tremendous financial relief to her center. "I will tell you, the last year has been very difficult for day care centers everywhere" because of the economy, she said. "I didn't know how I was going to pay for these cribs between now and December."  Pascagoula Refinery Manager Tom Kovar said giving back to the community is an integral part of the company's business. "The refinery has been here for nearly 50 years," Kovar said. "Yes, we're out there refining oil and turning it into fuels, but it's part of our jobs to be active and involved in our community. I can't think of a better way to do that than by supporting these child care centers.

"It is important that moms and dads can provide a safe place for their kids to be while they're at work. This is a great opportunity to help these centers stay open and in compliance with the regulations." In addition to the donation of new cribs to the participating child care centers, the refinery also partnered with the Mississippi State University Extension Service to provide more than 100 child care staff members with a one-day training session that allowed the group to earn 400 professional development hours. More than 25 child care staff members also will earn their Child Development Associate professional certification as part of the crib donation project. Delivery of the new cribs began Wednesday and will be completed by Sept. 1. Following Hurricane Katrina, the Pascagoula Refinery aided the restoration of dozens of child care centers in Jackson County.

By The Mississippi Press

August 25, 2012:

ELK POINT, S.D. | Hyperion Refining wants to extend land purchase options on the Union County farmland where it plans to build an oil refinery and power plant until a court fight over the controversial project ends. The move casts doubt on whether Hyperion will meet a state-imposed deadline to begin construction on the $10 billion project by next March. Hyperion's current three-year contract with owners of more than 5,000 acres in Union County runs through Aug. 31, 2013. In a recent letter to landowners, the Dallas, Texas-based company asked for a longer extension that would tie the purchase of the land to the "conclusion of legal challenges to Hyperion's permits." Hyperion refused the Journal's request to release a copy of the letter or terms of its latest offer. "The landowners have been among our strongest partners in this project, and we're exploring ways that together, we can find the best way to handle our land options going forward and to collectively work through the seemingly endless array of hurdles raised by the Sierra Club," Hyperion vice president Preston Phillips said in a statement Friday.

The Sierra Club and two local grassroots groups, Save Union County and Citizens Against Oil Pollution, have fought on several fronts to block the project, which they claim would pollute the environment and destroy the rural county's tranquil way of life. In March, the three opposition groups appealed a lower court's ruling that upheld a state environmental panel's decision to grant Hyperion an air quality permit. The South Dakota Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the appeal on Oct. 3 in Sioux Falls. Hyperion spokesman Eric Williams said the company expects the Sierra Club to turn to additional legal avenues to "run out the clock," and let the options expire. Hyperion said its "innovative" offer to the landowners is intended to counter that strategy. Ed Cable, a spokesman for the three opposition groups, did not rule out more legal challenges. "We and every other group have every legal right to exercise whatever actions we think are appropriate under the current law," Cable said Friday.

Williams insisted that Hyperion has not given up on beating the March 2013 construction deadline the Board of Minerals set as a condition for approving the amended air permit. The opposition groups argue the permit is flawed because pollution-control technology is not sufficient to comply with federal environmental laws. They also maintain the state's environmental study should have been more thorough, and Hyperion should have had to restart the application process because it missed the original February 2011 construction deadline. Hyperion filed a more limited appeal, questioning whether a prescribed limit on carbon monoxide emissions from the refinery's process heaters is technically practical.

In July, Hyperion petitioned the Supreme Court to hold the appeal as early as possible in the court's fall term, which began this month. The company argued the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the permit was making it difficult to secure funding for the project. The proposed Hyperion Energy Center would be built just north of Elk Point on a 3,292-acre site that Union County voters rezoned in a emotionally charged referendum in 2008. The refinery would process 400,000 barrels per day of heavy oil sands crude from Alberta, Canada, into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The project, which would be one of the largest capital expenditures in U.S. history, would take an estimated four years to complete. Hyperion estimates it would create an average of 4,500 construction jobs per year. When up and running, the energy center would employ about 1,800.

By siouxcityjournal.com