AG sues Lyondell over pollution leaks

Texas Attorney General filed suit yesterday against Lyondell Chemical Co. and two of its subsidiaries, accusing the companies of releasing harmful pollutants into the air and not doing anything to try to stop the problem. The suit says Lyondell, Equistar Chemicals and Millennium Petrochemicals released volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide from plants in La Porte, Channelview and Chocolate Bayou.

"Texas will vigorously enforce environmental laws that protect the health and safety of its citizens," Abbott said. "Industrial growth must be balanced with environmental stewardship in order to ensure a bright future for our state."

Lyondell, as you'd expect, says it didn't do anything wrong. Spokesman David Harpole admitted some violations at the La Porte plant, but said they were reported to the state in 2004. "There are some prescribed penalties with those issues. We acknowledge that and we're willing to pay those penalties," Harpole said. "What the attorney general is trying to do is to extract a penalty far in excess of what is prescribed by the state." But according to the suit, Lyondell's self-reporting showed a failure to fix leaks in valves, connectors and components at the plants and a failure to monitor some units at all — problems that went on for years. The company has reportedly taken steps to improve monitoring at the plants, and Harpole said Abbott's suit is unfair: "This lawsuit is not about protecting the environment. This lawsuit is about money, money the state of Texas is attempting to extract from Lyondell and it is unjust."

The suit, which seeks penalties of between $50 and $25,000 for each day of each violation, is the first in Texas to come from an EPA plan to cut pollution at chemical plants nationwide.