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Albany company under-reported emissions

Aug 18, 2016 12:02 am
Scott Waldman at Politico New York reports that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) documents obtained by the new organization show that a large company that transports crude oil through New York violated federal clean air standards at its oil transportation facility in Albany. The EPA issued a notice to Global Companies LLC last month, and the company could face fines of more than $25,000 a day for intentionally under-reporting air emissions after it was given permission to almost quadruple the amount of crude it could transport through Albany. Global reported an increase in air emissions of 39.5 tons per year of volatile organic compounds, just under a 40-ton limit that would trigger more regulation. "The EPA determined the amount Global reported was far less than what it was actually emitting," the story says, but it does not say just how many tons of pollutants went into the air. Global also wants to add a crude oil heater that would allow it to bring in thick tar sands to Albany, but the state Department of Environmental Conservation is in a legal battle with the company, and no decision on that issue is expected soon. Read the full story in Politico New York.