Louisiana Bucket Brigade October 20, 2005 LOUISIANA CITIZENS BEAT EXXONMOBIL IN COURT ST. BERNARD CITIZENS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY, INC. AND THE LOUISIANA BUCKET BRIGADE -- PLAINTIFFS* VERSUS CHALMETTE REFINING, L.L.C. (EXXONMOBIL) -- DEFENDANTS Decision by Judge Sarah Vance filed in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, October 14, 2005 Excerpts from the Judge's decision in which ExxonMobil is found guilty of violating the Clean Air Act. A Summary of the Violations ExxonMobil was accused of violating the Clean Air Act. The specific violations for which ExxonMobil was found guilty are as follows: * "Plaintiffs now move for partial summary judgment on defendant's liability for an additional 2, 629 alleged violations of the Clean Air Act. The alleged violations consist of (1) 1,273 violations of permit limits on emissions of benzene from the refinery's two benzene tanks since 2003; (2) 536 violations of permit limits on emissions of sulfur dioxide from the refinery's flares since 2002; and (3) 820 violations of "new source performance standards" for flares and monitoring of flares since 1999." (pp. 3 -- 4) Leaking Benzene Tanks Benzene is known to cause cancer in humans. ExxonMobil has been illegally leaking this chemical from their tanks. * "In this written notification, defendant admitted that the total annual benzene emissions for the year 2002 from tank D-13001 were 5,087 pounds and that the total annual emissions from tank D-13002 were 5,077 pounds, or approximately 2.54 tons each. (Id. at 5). Because the permit for these tank limits defendant to .43 tons of benzene emissions per year, defendant, by its own admission, emitted almost six times the annual permitted amounts of benzene from tanks D-13001 and D-13002." pp. 11 -- 12 * "Plaintiffs have demonstrated that these admitted-to amounts of benzene emissions regularly exceeded defendant's annual and hourly permit limits for all three tanks and, therefore, resulted in numerous violations of defendant's permits." p. 14 Sulfur Dioxide Dumping Sulfur Dioxide is known to trigger asthma attacks. Children and the elderly are especially vulnerable. ExxonMobil illegally dumped sulfur dioxide on the community by burning it through their flares -- the flames you often see coming from the refinery. * "On October 14, 2002, defendant notified the LDEQ that from September 1, 2001 through August 31, 2002, it continuously released sulfur dioxide from the two flares in excess of 500 pounds per day. (Id., Ex. 7). Defendant admitted that the release was "not related to any upset or emergency condition. (Id.)." p. 23 *The St. Bernard Citizens for Environmental Quality and the Louisiana Bucket Brigade filed this law suit because, despite flagrant and repeated violations by the refinery, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) completely failed to protect the citizens and enforce the law. This law suit is a citizens' enforcement law suit. The Clean Air Act says that citizens have a right to enforce the law through law suits when the government (i.e. the EPA and DEQ) isn't doing its job. The victory here is cleaner air for everyone. None of the plaintiffs are awarded any money. All fines paid by ExxonMobil go directly to the U.S. Treasury. Many thanks to the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic for representing the organizations at no charge (free!). Anne Rolfes, Founding Director Louisiana Bucket Brigade 5745 Berkshire Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70806 p: (501) 554 -- 2727 www.labucketbrigade.org