Texas oil company to pay $12 million for CAA violations

   A judge in the U.S. District Court in Lafayette, Louisiana, has sentenced Pelican Refining Company LLC to pay $12 million for felony violations of the Clean Air Act (CAA) and for obstruction of justice. The company admitted in court that it had knowingly committed criminal violations of its CAA operating permit at its refinery in Lake Charles, Louisiana, The violations were discovered during a March 2006 inspection by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) and EPA, which identified numerous unsafe operating conditions. Pelican also pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice for submitting materially false deviation reports to LDEQ. According to the judgment, Pelican will pay $10 million in criminal penalties and pay another $2 million to support environmental projects in the Lake Charles community.