The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ), along with U.S. EPA and the U.S. Department of Justice, this week announced a $300 million settlement with ExxonMobil that resolves alleged violations under both state and federal law at eight of the corporation’s facilities across Texas and Louisiana. The agreement requires ExxonMobil to improve its flaring and fence-line pollution monitoring practices, and to pay a $2.5 million civil penalty and undertake a supplemental environmental project in a nearby Louisiana community.
The settlement provisions are estimated to reduce harmful emissions of VOCs by more than 7,000 tons per year, and of toxic air pollutants, including benzene, by more than 1,500 tons per year.
“LDEQ is always happy to cooperate with our federal partners in investigating environmental violations,” said Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, Secretary of the LDEQ. “This settlement will benefit the entire state of Louisiana, and the Beneficial Environmental Projects included in the settlement will enhance LDEQ’s surveillance and enforcement capabilities.”
For more information about the settlement, click here.
