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Braintree Based Citgo Oil Terminal Faces Penalties for Chemical Reporting Violations

Release Date: 10/09/2008
Contact Information: Jeanethe Falvey, 617.918.1020

(Boston, Mass. – October 9, 2008) The United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has issued a complaint against Citgo Petroleum Corporation for alleged violations of the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA).

Citgo owns and operates the Citgo Braintree Oil Terminal, located in Quincy, Massachusetts that failed to produce timely, accurate and complete Toxic Chemical Release Inventory Forms during the calendar years of 2004, 2005, and 2006. These forms are intended to fully disclose an inventory of chemicals manufactured, processed or otherwise used at facilities.

The violations were identified during a routine EPCRA inspection. This resulting enforcement action is intended to help ensure that the local community and emergency response personnel are provided with information about potentially dangerous chemicals that are being used and stored in the community.

Accurate records are also necessary to legitimize and support future health studies and to ensure that accurate planning and safety precautions are taken in the event that federal, state and local authorities must respond to emergencies on site or address environmental contamination.

EPCRA was enacted by Congress in 1986 to require that businesses and industries provide greater protection of public health and the environment from chemical emergencies and dangers through full disclosure of the chemicals they store, use and release. EPCRA was passed in the wake of the deadly 1984 Bhopal, India chemical disaster and another toxic release from a West Virginia chemical plant that same year.

For more information on EPCRA enforcement in New England visit: epa.gov/ne/enforcement/epcra

Today’s action contributes to EPA's record-shattering enforcement results for the 2008 Fiscal Year. To date, EPA has concluded enforcement actions requiring polluters to spend an estimated $11 billion on pollution controls, clean-up and environmental projects, an all time record for EPA. After these activities are completed, EPA expects annual pollution reductions of more than three billion pounds.