This is why Petrogas will pay $4 million for unpermitted emissions
In the largest penalty settlement in the Northwest Clean Air Agency’s 56-year history, Petrogas West has agreed to pay $4 million and make operational changes to the company’s Cherry Point facility in Whatcom County.
The plant’s issues began in October 2021 when the company started projects without permits, allegedly leading to increased emissions, which were not reported by Petrogas West.
”These were serious allegations,” said Mark Buford, the Northwest Clean Air Agency’s executive director said in a news release Wednesday, Jan. 18. “Our notice of violation alleged that the company should have obtained permits before making physical and operational changes from 2015 through 2020 that increased facility emissions by hundreds of tons per year. The changes didn’t go through air quality permitting review and the increased emissions weren’t reported. If the company had obtained permits for the changes, controls would have been required that would have prevented most of those emissions. The facility did install interim controls in 2021 that have been effective while permanent controls are planned. But the emissions never should have happened.”
Most of the emissions caused by the changes are propane, a volatile organic compound. Combined with sun and heat, propane and other volatile organic compounds form ground-level ozone, according to the news release from the Northwest Clean Air Agency.
The alleged violations were undertaken when a different leadership group operated the facility. The new leadership group has been “very open and forthcoming,” according to Buford.
AltaGas is “committed to doing the right thing now and in the future,” according to a Wednesday email to The Bellingham Herald from AltaGas Media Relations. AltaGas took over controlling interest in Petrogas in late 2020. The change in leadership helped uncover the issue, according to earlier reporting in The Herald.
“In conjunction with the settlement, NWCAA issued an interim regulatory order requiring operation of temporary controls while the permit addressing the projects cited in the notice of violation is processed through regulatory requirements. The facility has also applied for a separate order that limits the facility-wide VOC emissions to below thresholds that were triggered and led to the alleged violations,” the news release said.
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This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 1:46 PM.
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