Environmental Briefs: Harbor Craft Pollution and So Cal Refinery’s Violation Endangers LA Waterways

Addressing Harbor Craft Pollution

Congressman Alan Lowenthal announced March 26, the California Air Resources Board released a newly-passed commercial harbor craft regulation that includes the nation’s first zero-emission marine standard.

Harbor craft, which include fishing vessels, ferries, excursion vessels, tugboats, tow boats, crew and supply boats, barges, and dredges, are in the top three emission emitting categories at seaports, contributing more diesel particulate matter emissions than diesel trucks in 2023 at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

This new regulation is the nation’s strongest commercial harbor craft public health regulation and includes the nation’s first zero-emissions mandate for ferries. The regulation is projected to save more than 500 lives a year and protect another 9.7 million Californians from elevated levels of air pollution.

U.S. EPA penalizes So Cal refinery For Violating Oil Spill Prevention Requirements, Endangering LA Waterways

LOS ANGELES — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) March 30, announced a settlement with Lunday-Thagard Company dba World Oil Refining (World Oil) for alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations related to oil pollution prevention at the company’s South Gate, Calif. refinery and storage facility. Under the settlement, World Oil will pay a $112,673 penalty.

The facility is located near the Rio Hondo Channel and the Los Angeles River. Each of the waterways flow to the Long Beach Harbor and the Pacific Ocean, as well as the Golden Shore Marine Reserve, an environmentally sensitive site that is of the “highest concern for protection” according to the Los Angeles/Long Beach Area Contingency Plan developed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a way to prepare for major oil spills. EPA alleges that the company violated the Clean Water Act’s Oil Pollution Prevention Regulations after EPA inspections at the facility on March 31 and April 16, 2021 found that World Oil failed to:

• Implement tank and facility inspections according to the written procedures in the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Plan;
• Inspect and conduct integrity tests on tanks in accordance with industry standards;
• Promptly correct visible discharges which result in a loss of oil from containers; and
• Develop an adequate Facility Response Plan (FRP) to respond to oil spills.

World Oil took the following steps to come into compliance:

• developed and began implementation of an updated tank testing and inspection schedule;
• implemented a revised oil spill prevention training program; and
• updated its FRP.