CVR Energy to pay $23 million for excess pollution from Kansas refinery

CVR Energy

20/11/2023 20:42

Nov 20 (Reuters) - CVR Energy  CVI.N  agreed to pay more
than $23 million for emitting excess sulfur dioxide from its
petroleum refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas, in a settlement
announced by the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday. 
    Under an agreed upon consent decree, CVR's Coffeyville
Resources Refining and Marketing unit (CRRM) must install a $9
million flare gas recovery system, spend $1 million on a
Kansas-approved environment-friendly project, and pay over $13
million in fines.
    The new flare gas recovery system will lower annual
greenhouse gas emissions by 12,888 tons, equivalent to using 1.3
million fewer gallons of gasoline every year, and will also cut
sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the EPA projected.
    The refinery emitted 2,300 excess tons of sulfur dioxide,
which can make breathing difficult, cause acid rain, and damage
trees and plants. Nitrogen oxide primarily contributes to smog
formation.
    After paying a nearly $1 million penalty as part of a
consent decree in 2012 for environmental violations, CRRM had
been under investigation by the United States and Kansas since
2016 for additional Clean Air Act violations, leading to
Monday's settlement.

 (Reporting by Daksh Grover and Deep Vakil in Bengaluru; Editing
by Bill Berkrot)
 ((Daksh.Grover@thomsonreuters.com;))