pollution and the law

Many people don't realize that everytime a refinery lights up a flare it is because there was a problem at the refinery. Living near the refineries I frequently see those flares. At night they light up the sky. It is for an unpleasant reminder of how dangerous they are.
I may be one of the few people here in Texas that applaudes the Cap and Trade legislation currently making it's way through Congress. If the same (watered down) method worked for Acid Rain I am confident it will work on the crap these local refineries spew.

Texas issues $650,000 fine against BP

02:41 PM CDT on Saturday, June 27, 2009

By T.J. Aulds / The Daily News

TEXAS CITY — The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality on Friday fined BP’s Texas City operations $650,000 for what the state said was improper disposal of waste product. The fine covers 10 environmental violations over six months in 2007, the state’s environmental agency said.

Details of the violations were not provided by the commission Friday afternoon.

However, the commission announced that part of the fine includes $325,000 that will be used to purchase park land in Texas City.

The Supplemental Environmental Project is in lieu of a cash fine. In BP’s case, the $325,000 will be added to the $5.5 million the company has already contributed to the city of Texas City for an expansive park project.

About half of BP’s fine money will be used to purchase additional park land behind Mall of the Mainland in Texas City as part of the city’s Central Park nature park project.

Friday’s fine comes less than a month after the Texas attorney general sued BP for “repeated violations of environmental laws” at its Texas City refinery. On June 4, Attorney General Greg Abbott outlined the enforcement action listing 15 enforcement orders and 46 environmental violations against BP Texas City by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Because the commission did not include details of the incidents that related to the new fines, The Daily News could not confirm whether the action by the state’s environmental agency was among the environmental violations included in the attorney general’s lawsuit, which covers violations that date back to 2002, but also includes incidents in 2007.