Unocal Draws Fine Under Tough New Pollution Law
Unocal Corp. was convicted Thursday under a new state environmental law and ordered to pay $23,500 in fines for an air pollution violation at its Wilmington refinery that nearby residents said caused nausea, burning eyes and headaches.
The fine, meted out by Municipal Court Commissioner Joseph Spada following a no-contest plea by the oil company, marked the first time that the new state law has been used in Los Angeles to impose higher than usual financial penalties. The law took effect last January.
Instead of a $1,000 maximum fine per violation under the earlier law--which remains on the books--Unocal was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine, plus $13,500 in court costs, for a single violation.
“The big difference is that the new law adds the negligence factor and provides for an enhanced penalty,” City Atty. James K. Hahn said. “We charged Unocal with negligence because refinery officials, by exercising proper care, could have detected and prevented the release of the toxic odors to the nearby community.”
The penalty stems from an incident last Feb. 7 when hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans were accidentally released as the refinery workers transferred a liquid from a refinery tank into a vacuum truck during a cleaning operation.
Area residents, including students and teachers at nearby Taper Avenue Elementary School and the San Pedro Science Center, said they suffered nausea, burning eyes, headaches and respiratory problems.
In high enough concentrations, hydrogen sulfide can be extremely toxic, even fatal. When concentrations become that high, they cannot be smelled. At lower concentrations, hydrogen sulfide can be smelled. Mercaptans are sulfur compounds found naturally in crude oil, and also give off a foul odor.
“They are capable of producing the symptoms that were noted,” Unocal spokesman Jeff Callender said Thursday.
Unocal pleaded no contest to one of the two air pollution violations that reportedly occurred Feb. 7. No charges were pressed in the second incident that day, or in another reported on April 13, Callender said.
Callender said Thursday that the company has since purchased pollution control equipment “so there’s no chance of this recurring.”
Hahn said Thursday’s fine marked the second time in nine months that Unocal has been convicted of violating air pollution laws. He said that last March the company admitted releasing pollutants into the atmosphere from a refinery stack. It paid $5,100 in fines and assessments for three violations. In addition, Unocal agreed to pay $70,000 to the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s alternative energy research program.
