Exxon to pay about €4.2 million for EPA violations

Exxon Mobil will pay nearly €4.2 million in civil penalties for violations of a court-approved Clean Air Act agreement, said the US Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department.

The EPA said Exxon failed to monitor the sulfur content in some fuel gas streams burned in refinery furnaces, breaching a 2005 settlement between the oil company and federal regulators.

Exxon said in a statement that the company discovered some fuel gas streams that had not been addressed in the settlement while conducting an environmental self audit in November 2006 at its Baytown, Texas refinery.

Exxon said it reported these findings to the EPA, and that all streams now meet EPA standards.

Under the original agreement, Exxon was already required to pay a €5.4 million civil penalty, €4.7 million in environmental projects in areas surrounding the company's refineries and to install pollution controls at six US refineries.