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EPA fines Flint Hills Resources Alaska, LLC nearly $16,000 for Clean Air Act violations

Release Date: 12/13/2006
Contact Information: Calvin Terada, (206) 553-4141, terada.calvin@epa.gov, Kelly Huynh, (206) 553-1679, huynh.kelly@epa.gov, Tony Brown, (206) 553-1203, brown.anthony@epa.gov

Company Also Agrees to Buy Three Response Trailers for the Borough
(Anchorage, Alaska. – December 12, 2006) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that Flint Hills Resources Alaska, LLC (Flint Hills) has agreed to pay $15,867 for alleged federal Clean Air Act (CAA) emergency planning violations. Flint Hills operates a refinery near the City of North Pole, Alaska.

EPA alleged ten separate violations of the CAA including: failure to establish procedures for reviewing and updating the Company’s emergency response plan, and failure to establish procedures for informing the public and local emergency response agencies about accidental releases of flammable substances.

As part of the settlement with the EPA, Flint Hills has agreed to correct all alleged violations, pay the penalty and spend at least $60,000 on a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) involving the purchase of two hazardous substance spill response trailers and one incident command post trailer for the Fairbanks/North Star Borough.

"Flint Hills needed a better management system to ensure that their emergency procedures were continually updated and also needed a way to inform the public about accidental releases,” said Kelly Huynh, EPA's Risk Management Plan (RMP) Coordinator. "The program is designed to protect public health and the environment in the event there is an accidental release of hazardous or flammable substances."

The federal Clean Air Act, Section 112(r), requires the development of a Risk Management Program and submittal of Risk Management Plans for all public and private facilities that manufacture, process, use, store, or otherwise handle greater than a threshold amount of a regulated substance(s). Flammable gases and toxic chemicals, such as ammonia and chlorine, are covered by the program.

The Risk Management Program requires the development of an emergency response strategy, evaluation of a worst case and more probable case chemical release, operator training, review of the hazards associated with using toxic or flammable substances, operating procedures and equipment maintenance. These requirements are in place to protect the public from the accidental release of flammable gases and toxic chemicals.

To find out more about the Risk Management Program go to Region 10's site at:
https://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/CLEANUP.NSF/sites/rmp

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