EPA reaches $5.3 million settlement with major petroleum refiner

The Obama administration has reached a settlement with the owner of the country’s second-largest petroleum refinery, which will pay $5.3 million in penalties for emitting harmful pollutants into the atmosphere.

The settlement is part of a broad effort by the administration to crack down on air pollution from refineries and power plants.

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Hovensa, the owner of the St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, facility, will have to install $700 million in new pollution controls in addition to the Clean Air Act penalties.

The company, the federal government alleged, made a series a modifications to its refinery without obtaining the necessary permits and installing technology to reduce harmful nitrogen oxide and sulfur oxide emissions, as required by the Clean Air Act. The pollutants, EPA says, are harmful to human health and result in smog.

“This is another major step in our efforts, alongside EPA, to bring the petroleum refining sector into compliance with our nation’s environmental laws,” Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division at the Department of Justice, said in a statement.

While the settlement does not relate to greenhouse gas emissions, the settlement comes as EPA is moving to impose new restrictions on the pollutants. The agency has laid out a timeline for greenhouse gas standards for refineries and power plants.