![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Gulf Guardian Award Winners 2004
Business Category - 1st Place
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec 1., 2004
EXXONMOBIL WINS 1ST PLACE GULF GUARDIAN AWARD
STENNIS SPACE CENTER, Miss. – The Gulf of Mexico Program today presented ExxonMobil with a first place Gulf Guardian Award for 2004 in the Business Category for their Voluntary Nitrate Emission Reduction project. The award ceremony was held aboard the Creole Queen Riverboat in New Orleans, La.
At the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery, nitrate emissions from the refinery to the Mississippi River were voluntarily reduced by two thirds from 4.51 million pounds per year in 1999 to 1.47 million pounds per year in 2003. Company officials are focused on further reducing nitrate emissions in 2004. ExxonMobil’s management team established this voluntary reduction objective and supported it through a five-year effort that included an extensive engineering analysis. Process operations were modified to run two ammonia strippers in parallel. Additionally, an innovative method of operating the refinery waste water treatment facility under anoxic conditions, previously believed to be infeasible, was implemented. This reduction effort was entirely voluntary and was achieved without capital expenditure.
"I am pleased and honored that the ExxonMobil Baton Rouge Refinery has been selected to receive this award for our multi-year Voluntary Nitrate Emission Reduction Program,” said Baton Rouge ExxonMobil Refinery Manager Bruce March. “Our decision to reduce nitrate emissions was voluntary. We simply felt it was an appropriate objective in support of our goal to be leaders in environmental progress. The success we have enjoyed in reducing our nitrate emissions by over 67 percent has been the result of innovative changes we have made in the operations of our ammonia strippers and wastewater treating plant. Our management team and employees remain committed to this effort and we feel good about being able to contribute in this small way to the improvement of the water quality in the Gulf of Mexico."
"The Gulf Guardian Award winners for 2004 are prime examples of collaborative environmental efforts leading to neighborhood solutions that transcend political boundaries,” said Benjamin Grumbles, EPA Assistant Administrator for Water in Washington, D.C. “I commend all of the winners for their innovative partnerships, common sense ideas, and hard work. Their efforts are making a difference in protecting and restoring the Gulf of Mexico.”
The Gulf of Mexico Program initiated the Gulf Guardian awards in 2000 as a way to recognize and honor the businesses, community groups, individuals, and agencies that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf healthy, beautiful and productive. The Gulf of Mexico Program began in 1988 to protect, restore, and maintain the health and productivity of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem in economically sustainable ways. Award entries were received from Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. A first, second, and third place award are given each year in six categories – individual, business, youth and education, nonprofit organizations, government, and partnership efforts.
Gulf of Mexico Program Office Director Bryon O. Griffith said, “This year’s Gulf Guardian Award winners encapsulate the essence of the Gulf of Mexico Program and our efforts to attain environmental solutions in concert with economic growth.” “Environmental successes are exponential when you bring the resources of many to the table, as the 2004 winners have so successfully demonstrated.”
For a list of all the Gulf Guardian Award winners for 2004, visit the Gulf of Mexico Program web site at https://www.epa.gov/gmpo and click on the Gulf Guardian Award button.
The Gulf of Mexico Program is underwritten by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and is a non-regulatory, inclusive consortium of state and federal government agencies and representatives of the business and agricultural community, fishing industry, scientists, environmentalists, and community leaders from all five Gulf States. The Gulf Program seeks to improve the environmental health of the Gulf in concert with economic development.
Editor’s Note: For more information about the Gulf Guardian
Awards and the Gulf of Mexico Program, call Terry Hines Smith at 228-688-1159.
For more information about ExxonMobil’s Voluntary Nitrate Reduction
Project call Stacy Cargile at 225-772-9122.
