Environment & Safety
EPA could double fraudulent US biofuel claims
Republicans say they have evidence the EPA may double the number of US biodiesel credits it has deemed fraudulent, raising the specter of more financial penalties for refiners.
Total Safety wins top contractor safety award from Houston business group
Global safety services company Total Safety was honored this month by the Houston Business Roundtable with a “Best in Category” safety award from a field that included 134 companies. Total Safety won in the “Technical Support - Large” category and was nominated by several customers.
UOP opens gas processing membrane production center in Malaysia
UOP has opened a manufacturing and operations center in Penang, Malaysia, to produce natural gas membrane elements to support the growing natural gas market. Removing impurities is necessary before the gas can be used as fuel, as a source for petrochemicals or distributed by pipeline.
UK investor warns shale gas industry on emissions
One of Europe's largest institutional investors warned the shale gas industry to do more to prevent the release of the potent greenhouse gas methane during drilling, which is undermining its basis as a cleaner alternative to coal. Comments were directed primarily at drilling operations in the US.
BP to pay $400mn for pollution controls in Whiting refinery settlement with US
BP has agreed to pay an $8 million penalty and invest more than $400 million to install pollution controls and cut emissions from its petroleum refinery in Whiting, Indiana, according to the US EPA. The Whiting refinery has an operating capacity of 405,000 bpd, making it the 6th-largest in the US.
Lightning sparks fire at Pennsylvania coatings plant of Dow Chemical
Dow Chemical said an early Wednesday lightning strike hit two storage tanks holding ethyl acetate and butyl acetate at its Bristol coatings plant near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The fire broke out at 3:35 a.m. local time. Employees at the site were evacuated and none were injured, Dow said.
Shell reports fire, unplanned unit outage at Motiva refinery in Port Arthur
Shell Oil said a unit was shut unplanned over the weekend at its joint venture Motiva refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, after a relatively brief fire at an associated heater. The Motiva refinery is a joint venture with Saudi Refining. The total throughput capacity is rated at 310,000 bpd.
LSB shuts Arkansas chemical plant after explosion
LSB Industries said its El Dorado chemical facility in Arkansas suffered significant damage to the DSN concentrated nitric acid plant and surrounding equipment when a reactor exploded Tuesday morning. The El Dorado facility is out of operation at the present time due to the damage.
Tronox, US to face off against Anadarko in $25bn environmental lawsuit
Creditors of Tronox joined by the US government are poised to square off with Anadarko Petroleum and former Tronox parent Kerr-McGee in a $25 billion environmental lawsuit that seeks to assign blame for the chemical company's "toxic past." Tronox, which makes TiO2, filed for Chapter 11 in early 2009.
Bechtel hits safety mark at US waste treatment site
Engineering major Bechtel said workers at its Hanford waste treatment plant in Washington, also known as the Vit plant, surpassed 11 million hours without an injury resulting in a lost work day. Bechtel is designing and building the Vit plant for the US Department of Energy (DoE).
- China's first coal-to-chemicals project with green hydrogen starts commercial operations 11/20
- Norsk e-Fuel and Braskem partner to turn captured carbon into long-lasting products 11/20
- Nigeria's Dangote refinery delays CDU maintenance to end of January 2026 11/20
- Technimont attends ground-breaking ceremony of Tengiz Gas separation Complex in Kazakhstan 11/20
- 42% of U.S. energy/critical infrastructure providers exposed to weaponized AI and email attacks 11/20
- EIA: U.S. crude stocks fall on higher demand, fuel inventories rise 11/20
