[StBernard] Vice President and General Manager of Louisiana Refinery Pleads Guilty to Clean Air Act Violations

[Westley Annis]

Vice President and General Manager of Louisiana Refinery Pleads Guilty to
Clean Air Act Violations 

  

(DALLAS - July 6, 2011)  Byron Hamilton, 66, vice president and general
manager of Pelican Refining Company (PRC), pleaded guilty today to two
misdemeanor counts of negligent endangerment under the Clean Air Act. The
violations endangered people's health by releasing hazardous air pollutants,
such as benzene, a carcinogen, toluene and xylene, which can cause liver and
kidney damage, and hydrogen sulfide, an extremely hazardous substance that
can cause eye irritation, fatigue, and in extreme cases, death.   

  

"The violations found at this facility made for nothing short of unsafe
operating conditions. Unsafe for workers and unsafe for the surrounding
community," said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office
of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Today's guilty plea ensures that
the flagrant disregard for worker safety and our nation's environmental laws
cease at this facility." 

  

In March 2006, the EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality
conducted an inspection of PRC's crude oil refinery and asphalt plant in
Lake Charles, Louisiana Inspectors found numerous unsafe operating
conditions, including unpermitted releases of hydrogen sulfide, storing
crude oil in unrepaired storage tanks, failure to repair emissions
monitoring and control equipment and placing plastic children's pools under
numerous pieces of leaking equipment. 

  

"Polluters will be held accountable for violations of federal laws set to
protect public health," said Al Armendariz, EPA Regional Administrator.  "As
this conviction shows, we will aggressively prosecute those who deliberately
ignore the nation's Clean Air Act." 

  

In November 2007, federal search warrants were carried out at PRC's
corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas, and at the refinery in Lake
Charles, Louisiana. Further investigation revealed multiple instances of
workers being ordered to take hydrogen sulfide measurements from storage
tanks without the use of personal protective equipment, despite management's
knowledge of tanks containing unsafe levels of hydrogen sulfide.  

  

Reducing illegal air pollution and cutting toxic air pollution in
communities are two of the EPA's National Enforcement Initiatives for
2011-2013. This prosecution advances the EPA's enforcement efforts in both
areas and protects communities from illegal, and in this case criminal,
actions that impact air quality. 

  

The proceedings took place in the United States District Court for the
Western District of Louisiana. 

  

More information on EPA's criminal enforcement program:
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/criminal/index.html
<http://www.epa.gov/compliance/criminal/index.html>  

  

More about activities in EPA Region 6:
http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html
<http://www.epa.gov/aboutepa/region6.html>  

  

EPA audio file is available at
http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/may2011.html
<http://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/may2011.html>