The Arkansas Department of Energy and Environment - Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) and Lion Oil Company, LLC (“Lion”) entered into a July 1st Consent Administrative Order (“CAO”) addressing alleged violations of an Air Permit.
The CAO provides that Lion owns and operates a petroleum refinery in Union County, Arkansas.
The refinery is stated to operate pursuant to an Air Permit.
DEQ personnel are stated to have performed a compliance inspection on February 28, 2024, of the facility for the reporting period of September 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023. The inspection is stated to have determined that the facility exceeded the NOx 3-hour rolling average at SN-809 for eleven hours as shown in Table 1 of the CAO. This is stated to violated FCCU 1 of Permits R20 and R21.
The inspection is stated to have determined that the facility exceeded the SO2 1-hour average at SN-844 for certain time periods, violating SRP 1 of Permit R21.
The facility is stated to have failed to provide during the inspection the required maintenance records for SN-849 during the years 2022 and 2023, violating CRP 11 of Permits R20 and R22.
In response to a DEQ query, Lion stated to have acknowledged the violations and referred DEQ Annual Compliance Certification Reports submitted on January 30, 2023, and January 30, 2024, for the details outlining the cause of the upset conditions and the corrective actions taken. Respondent stated that it would implement a system to track maintenance and repairs at SN-849.
Lion neither admits nor denies the factual and legal allegations contained in the CAO.
The CAO requires that within thirty calendar days of the effective date of the CAO, that Lion submit NOx 3-hour rolling average records for SN-809. Such records are required to be submitted monthly for a period of 3 months beginning with the month following the effective date of this CAO. Further, within thirty (30) calendar days of the effective date of this CAO, Lion is required to submit SO2 1-hour average records for SN-844. The records shall be submitted monthly for a period of 3 months. In addition, within thirty (30) calendar days of the effective date of this CAO, Lion is required to submit 2024 maintenance records for SN-849.
A civil penalty of $14,400.00 is assessed.
A copy of the CAO can be downloaded here.
The Between the Lines blog is made available by Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. and the law firm publisher. The blog site is for educational purposes only, as well as to give general information and a general understanding of the law. This blog is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Use of this blog site does not create an attorney client relationship between you and Mitchell Williams or the blog site publisher. The Between the Lines blog site should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.