The federal government levied a record fine on a Texas oil company for environmental regulatory compliance breaches, according to The Associated Press.the Clean Air Act at its refinery in Lake Charles refinery over a one-year period between 2005 and 2006.
A gas refinery in Louisiana violated federal clean air regulations.
In addition, two executives, asphalt facilities manager Mike LeBleu and vice president Byron Hamilton, pled guilty to negligent endangerment charges under the same law, according to KATC.com.
The two executives each face up to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and as much as two years in prison, but the company itself was issued a $10 million criminal fine, on top of $2 million for community service and environmental programs.
“This conviction sends a message to all those who threaten Louisiana’s precious environment that if they ignore their duty to adhere to the environmental laws, they will be investigated, prosecuted, fined and sentenced accordingly,” U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley said in a prepared statement, according to the AP.
KATC reports that the regulatory compliance breaches ranged from more mundane charges like failure to employ an environmental manager to the more extraordinary charge that the refinery chose to relight a toxic gas flare tower with a flare gun when the pilot light on the tower went out.
