CITGO Petroleum Corporation and CITGO Refining and Chemicals Company were sentenced for violations of the Clean Air Act related to its illegal operation of two massive tanks at their Corpus Christi East Plant Refinery as oil water separators without the required emission control equipment.
The failure to equip the tanks with emission controls exposed numerous residents in the Oak Park and Hillcrest communities to chemical emissions.
CITGO Petroleum Corporation was ordered to pay a fine of $500,000 on each of the two Clean Air Act counts of conviction.
CITGO Refining and Chemicals Company LLP was ordered to pay a fine of $500,000 on each of the federal Clean Air Act counts of conviction plus $15,000 on each of the three misdemeanor Migratory Bird Treaty Act conviction, for a total of $45,000.
In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge John D. Rainey deferred his ruling on victim restitution and a remedial order and will issue a written order on those issues within the next 90 days. Approximately 80 victims appeared in the full court room.
In June 2007, a jury convicted CITGO for illegally operating the two tanks at their Corpus Christi East Plant Refinery between January 1994 and May 2003.
The open top tanks were the source of emissions including benzene, a known carcinogen, and other volatile organic compounds, which affected persons in the surrounding communities.
Texas state investigators testified at the trial that they traced emissions that caused burning eyes, sore throat, difficulty breathing and other acute health effects back to the tanks on several occasions.
The emissions from the tanks were detected in Oak Park and Hillcrest in the form of strong gaseous type odors.
“CITGO’s illegal and careless operation of two massive tanks without emission controls exposed residents – the company’s neighbors – in the Oak Park and Hillcrest communities of Corpus Christi to unacceptable health impacts from toxic chemical emissions,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Robert G. Dreher of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “I am grateful to the prosecutors, the victim specialists and the federal and state investigators for fighting tirelessly for justice for these residents who deserve to breathe clean air and to be protected under the nation’s Clean Air Act.”
On Oct. 11-13, 2013, the same government agencies assisted approximately 90 of the identified victims who were permitted to address Judge Rainey as a part of the sentencing process, which occurred over a three week period.
During the hearing, victims told Judge Rainey of the difficulty of living in Hillcrest and Oak Park during the time the tanks were being operated illegally. Residents spoke of the sore throats, difficulty breathing, burning eyes, skin rashes and damage to property caused by the chemical emissions that were coming from the tanks.