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Subject SL Tribune article: Utah a Clean Air Act offender, study says 

Utah a Clean Air Act offender, study says (The Salt Lake Tribune) 

By Joe Baird 

The Salt Lake Tribune 

A new national study identifies Utah as o'ne of at least 29 states that have loopholes in their laws 

alloWing for "accidental" pollution emissions beyond the limits of the federal Clean Air Act. 

The Environmental Integrity Project, a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C., released a 

report this week that argues many states fail to monitor these accidental, or "upset" emissions, which 

in a number of facilities actually exceeded the amount of pollutants they released for the entire year. 

The study also upbraids the states for failing to penalize the excessive emissions, and says the 

Environmental Protection Agency is not acting to close loopholes that allow for such releases - which 

in many cases Include benzene, butadiene and other carcinogenic and toxic chemicals. 

"The off-the-books pollution caused by unreported and unpenalized 'upsets' is at least as harmful as 

'routine' pollution and should not be allowed to evade emission limits designed to protect public 

health," said Kelly Haragan, counsel for the Environmental Integrity Project and the study's author. 

, '''Upsets are a significant problem for many areas, particularly the predominantly low-income and 

communities of color surrounding refinery and chemical complexes. We hope this report will 

encourage the EPA, states and industry to act now to make these plants operate in a cleaner, safer' 

way." . 

Haragan says Utah has run afoul of the Clean Air Act - which does not provide general exceptions 

for excess pollution from accidental discharges - with a statute that exempts excessive emissions that 

occur during "unavoidable breakdowns." Nor does the state assess penalty fees for such releases. 

."The problem with those kinds of provisions is that facilities then have no real incentive to prevent 

the breakdowns," she said. "There are ways to minimize those problems, but if it's a freebie, then 

there's no incentive." . 

However, Rick Sprott, director of Utah's Division of Air Quality, disputes what he calls the 

,Environmental Integrity Project's "very strict" reading of federal clean air laws. 

'''r haven't seen the report; I'm not sure what they're talking about specifically, but I absolutely 

disagree that our statutes are in violation of the Clean Air Act," he said. . 

, Sprott cites a policy letter sent out by the EPA which he says deemed all excess emissions to be in 

violation· unless, he said, "the release was beyond the power of the company to prevent." 

"We don't want to give free license to polluters, but there are situations that facilities just can't flat 

control," Sprott added, noting that between one and two dozen Utah companies account for the bulk' 

of the accidental pollution releases. "If there's a pattern, If the same thing keeps going wrong, then 

we'll go out and investigate." 

Atthe same time, though, the state's air quality director says Utah and other states are tweaking 

their-clean air regulations to more closely mirror the EPA's. 
. The Environmental Integrity Project study included a more detailed analysis of sev.eral states where 

the reporting data was most extensive. Among them was Texas - home to a group of industrial plants 

owned by the Utah-based Huntsman Corp. .' . 

Two Huntsman facil·ities - in Port Neches and Odessa - accidentally released 552,OOO·and 381,000 

pounds, respectivelyI of pollutants in 2003, the report said. . 

Huntsman Corp. spok~sman Don Olsen did not return a phone call Friday seeking a company 

response . 

. jbaird@sltrib.com