Northern California air board to require oil refiners slash pollution - Reuters

NEW YORK, July 21 (Reuters) - Northern California regulators on Wednesday directed oil refiners in the region to slash the amount of fine particulate air pollution emitted by the facilities, which will require costly modifications at the plants.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District board's decision means refineries in the area, including Chevron Corp's (CVX.N) Richmond plant and PBF Energy Inc's (PBF.N) Martinez refinery, will have to install wet gas scrubbers to reduce pollution spewed by their gasoline-making fluid catalytic cracking units (FCCU).

Refineries emit heavy amounts of pollution as crude oil is processed into fuel, and small particulate matter - consisting of solid or liquid airborne particles - is among the most harmful pollutants. Prolonged exposure is known to lead to respiratory, pulmonary and cognitive health problems.

FCCUs, which turn heavier crude oil into lighter petroleum products including gasoline, are among the largest polluters of fine particulate matter in the San Francisco Bay-area.

Under the amended rule, refineries with FCCUs must limit annual emissions of particulate matter to 0.01 grain per dry standard cubic foot within the next five years. Chevron and PBF, the refiners expected to be most affected by the rule change, urged regulators to consider a less stringent 0.02 limit. Valero Energy Corp's (VLO.N) Benicia refinery already has a wet gas scrubber.

Refiners and their advocates, including several refinery labor unions, said updating the FCCUs would cost hundreds of millions of dollars, lead to refinery layoffs and put pressure on the plants to shut down. Running the wet gas scrubbers would also require excessive water use in an already parched area, they argued.

Health professionals, environmental groups and other proponents for the rule change said adding wet scrubbers would result in vastly in healthier air, particularly for children, poor residents and people of color disproportionately affected by refinery pollution, and could lead to more jobs as the updated units are installed.

Reporting by Laila Kearney Editing by Marguerita Choy

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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