A federal grand jury has charged power firm Phillips 66 with illegally dumping giant portions of oil into Los Angeles’s sewer system and failing to report the problem.
The Justice Division introduced Thursday {that a} grand jury issued a six-count indictment towards the agency for allegedly discharging “hundreds of thousands of gallons” of business wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into Los Angeles County’s sewer system.
Particularly, the corporate is accused of two incidents of serious dumping in 2020 and 2021.
In November 2020, the corporate allegedly dumped 310,000 gallons of business wastewater containing 64,000 kilos of oil and grease into the sewer system over a 2.5-hour interval. This quantities to greater than 300 instances the focus of oil and grease allowed underneath Phillips 66’s allow, in response to the Justice Division.
It’s accused of releasing one other 480,000 gallons of wastewater, containing not less than 33,700 kilos of oil and grease, over a 5.50-hour interval in February 2021.
If convicted on all costs, Phillips 66 faces as much as $2.4 million in fines and 5 years of probation.
In an announcement, the corporate didn’t instantly say whether or not it dedicated the violations it has been accused of.
“Phillips 66 will continue its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office and is prepared to present its case in these matters in court,” in response to an announcement shared by spokesperson Thaddeus Herrick.
“The company remains committed to operating safely and protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities where we operate,” the assertion stated.
