Oil Refineries Fail to Report Millions of Pounds of Harmful Emissions
Serial Number
Levin Center Identifier
Document Date
1999-11-10
Report Length
19 pages
Policy Agendas Project Major Code
Policy Agendas Project Minor Code
Additional, Minority, Dissenting Views
Report Type
Found Using Methodology
Yes
Committee(s)
Subcommittee(s)
Commission(s)
Idependent Author(s)
Brief Executive Summary
The Special Investigations Division of the House Committee on Government Reform investigated fugitive emissions, or emissions from equipment leaks, in oil refineries. The investigation found that oil refineries vastly underreported equipment leaks to federal and state regulators, which has a substantial adverse impact on US air quality. Moreover, these unreported fugitive emissions were estimated to add millions of pounds of harmful pollutants to the atmosphere each year, which could be eliminated if refineries complied with the requirements of the Clean Air Act.