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EPA Proposes Permit For Caribbean Petroleum

Release Date: 06/16/1999
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(#99096) San Juan, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued a draft wastewater discharge permit for the Caribbean Petroleum Refining L.P. (CPR) facility in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. This proposed permit, which would require CPR to move its wastewater discharge from Las Lajas Creek to San Juan Bay, would place stringent imits on the amount of pollution allowed to be discharged. These discharge limits are designed to protect the water quality of the Bay.

"San Juan Bay includes an estuary of national significance that needs our protection," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator. "This permit will guard against potential adverse impacts on this valuable marine environment."

The permit, once effective, will require that CPR cease its current wastewater discharge into Las Lajas Creek. The facility's current wastewater discharge permit contains limits to protect water quality in Las Lajas Creek, but the company has not been able to meet all of the conditions of this permit. In order to meet the pollution limits and conditions set in the new proposed permit, CPR will need to build some new treatment units to treat its wastewater before it is discharged into San Juan Bay.

Under the Clean Water Act, facilities like CPR that discharge into waters, must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, which allow them to release treated wastewater that meets specific pollutant limits. In 1990, CPR received a NPDES permit to discharge into Las Lajas Creek. The company has been unable to meet some of the pollutant limits set forth in the NPDES permit, including those for cyanide, detergents, nitrates and nitrites, sulfate and zinc. On February 16, 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA filed suit in Federal Court against CPR for violating water and hazardous waste laws at the Bayamon refinery. The suit alleged that CPR has violated and continues to violate the pollutant limits in its wastewater permit. This suit is still ongoing, and will not be affected by the permit proposed.

EPA has requested that the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (EQB) provide certification that the draft permit complies with all Commonwealth water quality standards. The EQB has issued an "Intent to Issue a Water Quality Certificate and Authorize an Interim Mixing Zone" for this bay discharge. EQB's draft certification differs from EPA's draft permit in that it would allow CPR to meet water quality standards outside a mixing zone, while EPA's draft permit does not authorize a mixing zone. EQB is taking public comments on its certification and is holding a separate public hearing. If EQB provides final certification within a reasonable time period of receipt of the draft permit, EPA will include appropriate requirements of the water quality certification in its NPDES permit.

EPA is taking public comment on its proposed draft permit until July 14, 1999. Members of the public can obtain a copy of the draft permit, fact sheet and other information at the EPA Region II Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, Centro Europa Building, Suite 417, 1492 Avenida Ponce de Leon in San Juan. EPA will hold a public hearing to solicit public comment on the draft permit at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday June 29, 1999 at: