Chevron Phillips Chemical Company has agreed to spend $118 million to upgrade petrochemical plants in Texas that allegedly violate air pollution laws, the US Justice Department said Wednesday.
Chevron Phillips, which is jointly owned by Chevron Corp. and Phillips 66, has also agreed to pay a $3.4 million civil penalty, the department said in a statement.
Under the agreement, the company will upgrade petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Cedar Bayou, Port Arthur, and Sweeney to bring them into compliance with the Clean Air Act and state air pollution control laws, it said.
According to the complaint, the company "failed to properly operate and monitor its industrial flares, which resulted in excess emissions of harmful air pollution at the three Texas facilities."
The Justice Department said the pollution controls are estimated to reduce emissions of climate-change-causing greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, methane and ethane, by over 75,000 tons per year.
Well-operated flares combust harmful waste gases that would be released into the atmosphere, turning them into water and carbon dioxide.
The agreement is subject to court approval.
