Mobil Oil Guam Inc. and Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc. are required to pay a civil penalty of $2.4 million within 30 days.
The company agreed to the consent decree which outlines the civil penalty and several other requirements to bring its bulk gasoline terminals into compliance with the Clean Air Act, but Mobil did not admit to any liability.
“Defendants do not admit to any interference of wongdoing that could be used against defendants in any other proceeding with any party not a signatory to this consent decree,” states the document.
Mobil Oil Guam Inc. and Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Inc. also agreed to shut down their tanks and loading racks in Piti and Saipan.
“The settlement in this case addresses the hazards to environment and public health by specifically tailoring relief to the violations at the Cabras and Saipan terminals as alleged in the complaint,” Robert Mullaney, attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, stated in the motion filed with the U.S. District Court of Guam on June 15.
The consent decree requires Mobil to shut down eight Cabras storage tanks in Piti and five Lower Base facilities on Saipan, which will not be reactivated until they are determined to be in compliance with the New Source Performance Standards.
The settlement agreement also requires the closure of Mobil’s loading racks and terminals.
“The alternative to this negotiated resolution would be litigation, requiring the United States to establish liability and to seek remedy for violation,” Mullaney stated in the court filing.
The two Mobil companies illegally discharged hundreds of tons of volatile organic compounds into the air each year from their bulk gasoline terminals on Cabras Island and in the Lower Base area of Saipan, the complaint stated.
It added that Mobil failed to install vapor pollution controls on 13 storage tanks and all of their loading racks at gasoline storage facilities on the islands.
As part of the consent decree, Mobil agreed to install air pollution controls and monitors, submit required reports, and obtain appropriate permits.
Mobil will spend more than $15 million to bring the two bulk gasoline terminals into compliance with the Clean Air Act and reducing their yearly discharge of volatile organic compounds by close to 400 tons.
