ExxonMobil to pay $6M for violating deal

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- ExxonMobil agreed to pay more than $6 million for violating terms of a court-approved Clean Air Act agreement, the U.S. Justice Department said Wednesday.

"The Department of Justice will not tolerate violation of our consent decrees," Assistant Attorney General Ronald Tenpas said in a joint news release with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "The significant penalty in this case shows that non­compliance with settlement requirements will have serious consequences."

A settlement reached in 2005 between the company and the government already required ExxonMobil to pay a $7.7 million civil penalty, provide an additional $6.7 million in supplemental environmental projects in communities around the company's refineries, and install pollution controls at six U.S. refineries.

The settlement arose from ExxonMobil's not monitoring sulfur content in some fuel gas streams between 2005 and 2007, and subsequent testing indicated sulfur content exceeded EPA limits.

The 2005 settlement and Wednesday's penalty settlement with ExxonMobil were reached as part of a national EPA initiative to reduce air pollution from refineries, the Justice Department and the EPA said.

The agreement announced Wednesday penalizes ExxonMobil for not complying with the 2005 settlement at four refineries in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas; Torrance, Calif., and Baton Rouge, La. The other two refineries in the 2005 settlement are in Joliet, Ill., and Billings, Mont.