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By Collin Eaton
HOUSTON, April 29 (Reuters) – Fines imposed by US oil storage facilities in the United States for violating air, water and waste regulations have surpbaded US $ 30 billion. the whole of last year, without even including two major disasters that occurred in the Houston area last month. – according to a Reuters badysis of federal data.
Federal and state fines imposed on storage tank operators totaled $ 5.2 million in April, compared to $ 4.1 million in 2018 and $ 2.5 million in 2017, according to federal and national penalties data badyzed. by Reuters from the US Environmental Protection Agency.
US oil storage operators have added millions of barrels of capacity since 2015, when the United States lifted the ban on crude oil exports for 40 years.
The nation currently ships up to 3.6 million barrels per day (bpd) abroad, and low natural gas prices have fueled a boom in petrochemical production that also requires more storage, particularly on the ground. US coast of the Gulf of Mexico. With this, however, there have been more incidents related to the quality of the air and the water.
"There have been some accidents and considerable expansion," said Eric Schaeffer, executive director of Environmental Integrity Project, a former director of civil protection, at the EPA. "There has been a decline in the resources available for implementation. There have been mixed signals about the degree of law enforcement. "
This year, the average fine is $ 218,000, compared to $ 52,000 in 2018. The total number of prosecutions for violations of the Clean Air and Water Quality Act regulations was 24, up from 17 at the same date last year, according to the data.
This figure does not include two incidents in Texas for which federal and national investigations are ongoing, but no fines have yet been imposed.
A fire in a petrochemical storage facility in the Houston area in March raged for days, throwing millions of pounds of carbon monoxide and other gases into the air and spilling out thousands of gallons of gas. fuel and toxic foam in waterways.
The fire at a site along the Houston Ship Channel in Deer Park, Texas, began when a leak from a tank containing volatile naphtha ignited and spread to others in the same complex. These tanks contain tens of thousands of barrels of products used to increase the octane number of gasoline, as well as for the manufacture of solvents and plastics.
A few weeks later, an explosion and fire at another plant north of Houston killed one worker and injured two others.
Crude oil storage capacity has increased 17% nationwide, reaching 573.6 million barrels since 2015, according to the US Energy Information Administration.
Companies such as LBC Tank Terminals and Moda Midstream LLC are among the expanding companies to handle growing exports of US crude oil.
Operators are currently expanding 23 storage terminals in Texas and seven in Louisiana, according to market data provider TankTerminals. Terminal operators in Texas are expected to increase their production capacity by 7% by the end of 2019, reaching 393 million barrels, according to data from TankTerminals.
Report by Collin Eaton in Houston, edited by Rosalba
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