Chemical Plants Still Don't Meet Clean Air Act Standards, 36 Years Later

Environment & Pollution
Chemical Plants Still Don't Meet Clean Air Act Standards, 36 Years Later
By Luciana A. Rodriguez
Mar 30, 2006, 11:51

Houston-area petrochemical plants have improved over the past 30 years, but overall Harris and Galveston counties remain out of compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s emissions standards.

Although the amount of toxic emissions released has declined unevenly, the continuous contributions to smog remain elevated.

Galveston-Houston Association of Smog Prevention, a non-profit environmental watchdog group, focuses mainly on industrial toxic and hazardous emissions, according to Communications director for GHASP Laurie Haffelfinger.

“Something like 50 percent of the pollution is caused by industry,” states Haffelfinger.

For the past three years, based on a three-hour “rolling standard,” smog measured in increments by time, the Houston and Galveston areas have averaged 103 parts per billion of air pollutants. The other 50 percent amount is released mostly by vehicles, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Toxic emissions are derived from a multitude of sources and are referred to as volatile organic compounds or VOCs. Among the two most dangerous and prevalent forms of VOCs, are butadiene and benzene. Butadiene is a chemical used in petrochemical, rubber and plastic manufacturing and then released into the air in gas form. Benzene can be found naturally in crude oil, but the chemical is used in liquid form in the petrochemical and plastic industries. Benzene evaporates into the air rapidly after being utilized in industrial processes, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Volatile organic compounds combine with nitrogen oxides to create ozone, commonly known as smog. High exposure to ozone can lead to respiratory and breathing problems, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

The EPA focuses its emissions measurements over the eight-county metro region, also referred to as the “Houston non-attainment area,” which includes Harris, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Liberty, and Montgomery and Waller counties. Currently, the EPA’s maximum acceptable level is 84 parts per billion. If an organization is found to emit greater than 85 ppb, it is in direct violation of the EPA’s standards, EPA spokesman Dave Berry stated.

However, the EPA has left an almost one percent borderline level of acceptability. If an industry emits 84.1 ppb, then it is not within or out of tolerance, which allows a gap in tolerability.

“[The one percent] is not a gray area,” Berry said. “It’s either 84 [ppb] or less or 85 [ppb] or more.”

The Clean Air Act of 1970 was designed and created to improve the air quality and reduce the amount of toxic emissions and smog within the United States. The act allowed the EPA to create the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to establish healthy benchmarks for the environment and to safeguard community health, according to the EPA.

A 1977 amendment to the act gave industry three more years to meet or exceed the standards by the deadline set in 1970. A 1990 amendment expanded the act to include acid rain and new forms of emissions.

“There has been a general decrease in emissions, and an upward increase in air quality since the Clean Air Act was promulgated in the early 1970s,” Berry stated.

Overall, the Houston area has reduced the number of reported pollutants from emissions by 62 percent, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The commission is responsible for the welfare and health of animals, plants, and humans and for monitoring the environment. TCEQ supplies data to help set guidelines for toxic emissions and pollutants released.

One mid-sized oil refinery that typifies many Ship Channel plants is Valero Refining Texas LP, owned by Valero Energy Corporation. The plant emits 418.6 tons per year of volatile organic compounds and 1,444 tons per year of nitrogen oxides, according to an August 2003 TCEQ Point Source Emissions report.

The Valero refinery has spent more than $300 million since 1997, when the plant began operations under the Valero name, to upgrade its facilities in an effort to reduce toxic emissions, according to Valero’s public affairs manager, Frederick Newhouse.

“Our environmental performance from upsets has improved dramatically. I think [Valero’s Houston refinery] environmental emissions from upsets have decreased by 40 percent,” Newhouse says.

The Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services cited Valero Refining Texas in 2002 for violating chapter 26 of the Texas Water Code because the surrounding water’s pH balance, a value that designates whether a substance is an acid or base, was 2.7, 3.3 units under the allowable standard of 6. If the pH balance is below 7 then a substance is considered an acid. Valero also admitted in 2005 to discharging pollutants, which violated chapter seven of the water code and was charged with a misdemeanor. The corporation was ordered to spend $50,000 on projects to reduce emissions and fined $50,000 by the TCEQ.

Meanwhile, Valero’s corporate parent six-month net income from January to June 2005 was $1.38 billion, according to its annual report for the second quarter of 2005.

The money Valero was fined and ordered to invest in emission reduction programs, $100,000 in 2005, would be earned back by the corporation in about one hour of an eight-hour workday.