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EPA Proposes Revised Permit for Caribbean Petroleum; Agency to Hold Public Information Session; Take Public Comment

Release Date: 09/10/2001
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(#01117) San Juan, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will hold an informal information session and take public comment on a revised draft wastewater discharge permit for the Caribbean Petroleum Refining L.P. (CPR) facility in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, which would require CPR to move its wastewater discharge from Las Lajas Creek to San Juan Bay. The permit includes limits set in a Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board (EQB) water quality certificate, designed to protect the water quality of the Bay, and technology-based limits set by EPA, which are national standards for the refinery industry. EPA had proposed a permit for the facility in 1999 and is now proposing a new revised version of the permit. "This proposed permit will improve water quality in Las Lajas Creek by moving CPR’s discharge to the bay, which can handle the treated wastewater without causing damage to the environment or marine life," said William J. Muszynski, Acting EPA Region 2 Administrator. Once finalized, the permit will authorize CPR to discharge wastewater into the San Juan Bay rather than Las Lajas Creek. Although the facility is not currently operating as a refinery, CPR could not meet the conditions in its permit for discharging wastewater into the creek when it resumed operations as a refinery between May 1999 and August 2000. As a result, EPA took enforcement action against the facility for violating this permit. The Agency proposed a new permit for the facility in 1999, which also required CPR to move its discharge to San Juan Bay. Since EQB had not completed work on determining an appropriate size and location for a mixing zone for Caribbean Petroleum’s discharge, EPA’s 1999 proposed permit required it to meet water quality standards at the end of its discharge pipe. EPA is now proposing a revised permit which includes an EQB approved mixing zone. A mixing zone is an area that dilutes a discharge. The discharge from a facility must meet water quality standards, which are set by the Commonwealth, at the edges of a mixing zone. The Clean Water Act allows facilities to use approved mixing zones as long as the zones protect water quality in the water body as a whole. Under the Clean Water Act, facilities must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit to discharge into waters of the United States The NPDES permit sets specific limits to protect the quality of the receiving water. In 1990, CPR received a NPDES permit to discharge into Las Lajas Creek. The company has been unable to meet some of the pollutant limits set in its NPDES permit, including those for cyanide, detergents, nitrates and nitrites, sulfate and zinc. On February 16, 1999, the U.S. Department of Justice and EPA filed suit in Federal Court against CPR for violating water and hazardous waste laws at the Bayamon refinery. While the present lawsuit is continuing, the alleged violations are solely based on parameters set forth in the prior permit authorizing discharge into Las Lajas Creek. The Agency expects that CPR will be able to comply with the parameters of this new permit, which authorizes a discharge into San Juan Bay. EPA is taking public comment on its proposed draft permit for thirty days and will hold a public information session on September 18, from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm and 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm at the Centro Cultural Mercedes Ellinger Ocasio. Members of the public can obtain a copy of the draft permit, fact sheet and other information by visiting EPA Region 2's Caribbean Environmental Protection Division, Centro Europa Building Suite 417, 1492 Ponce de Leon Avenue in San Juan, by calling 212-637- 3873 or by e mailing [email protected]. For more information on EPA’s NPDES permitting program, visit the EPA Web site http://cfpub1.epa.gov/npdes/.