Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming Worst In Nation For Refinery Pollution

A state-by-state ranking of the performance of oil refineries by the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) shows that among states with four or more refineries, Texas, Oklahoma, Montana, and Wyoming refineries emit the greatest pollution per barrel of crude oil processed. Refineries in New Jersey, which has unusually explicit toxic chemical reporting requirements, performed best.

Oil refineries use and release toxic chemicals, sulfur compounds that create odors and cause acid rain, and volatile organic chemicals, which contribute to smog formation. To create the rankings, EDF used publicly-reported data for these pollutants to determine the pollution per barrel of oil refined. EDF then identified which of the country’s 144 refineries with complete pollution data performed the best and worst for these multiple measures of refinery efficiency.

The EDF Community Guide website also includes information refinery neighbors can use to forge a dialogue with facility managers on strategies to prevent pollution. For example, the site contains information on how to reduce refinery vapors and spills that can contaminate groundwater.

“No state should be a pollution haven for dirty refineries. Every refinery in the nation should be working to prevent pollution and protect neighborhoods,” said Lois Epstein, EDF senior engineer. “With just a few mouse-clicks on EDF’s new website, the public can learn how nearby refineries rank in terms of preventing pollution. Refinery neighbors also can find out about strategies that minimize pollution, such as reduced flaring of gases, energy-saving distillation processes, and using cleaner crude as a raw material.”

EDF obtained toxic chemical release and transfer data from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s 1997 Toxics Release Inventory, and 1996-98 sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compound release data from EPA’s “AIRS” database, obtained in July, 1999. When AIRS data were not available, EDF received the data directly from states or from the facilities themselves.