The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality granted a request by El Paso County leaders to hold a contested hearing before considering granting an air quality renewal to Marathon Petroleum Corp.’s oil refinery.
The TCEQ commissioners voted 3-0 to grant the contested hearing, a trial-like proceeding to discuss the refinery’s impact on El Paso’s air and environmental quality. The ruling was made during a hearing held on Wednesday, June 3, in Austin, which was livestreamed online.
TCEQ Chairwoman Brooke T. Paup and commissioners Catarina R. Gonzales and Tonya R. Miller granted the contested hearing, citing that the El Paso County Commissioners Court proved a hearing should be held since any emissions from the Marathon Refinery could impact public property, including Ascarate Park.
“El Paso raises both statutory interests that are relevant to the application and owns property that’s approximately a half mile from the refinery,” Miller said during the hearing. “The county weighs concerns that are relevant and material to our decision on this application, including the air quality concerns at the property, air nuisance concerns for its property and concerns that air quality analysis and air dispersion modeling were not properly conducted.”
This is the first time that such a hearing has been ordered for the refinery’s many permit applications in its 97-year history, the El Paso Times reported.
A date for the contested hearing was not set. The hearing has to be held within 180 days, the TCEQ commissioners said.
Marathon Refinery, formerly Western Refining, officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
The refinery is located on 500 acres in East-Central El Paso, surrounded by several neighborhoods, and across Interstate 10 from Cielo Vista Mall, El Paso’s largest shopping center.
Marathon Refinery’s emissions record ‘warrants scrutiny’
A letter from Texas State Rep. Vince Perez, D-El Paso, was read by one of his staff members before the vote, urging the contested hearing be granted. He questioned the company’s transparency in providing emissions data to the public.
He added he is not asking the commission to deny the permit or to close the refinery, citing that the refinery employs hundreds of El Pasoans and supplies much of the region’s fuel.
The Marathon Refinery website states it employs about 400 people and produces 133,000 barrels per calendar day at the El Paso refinery.
“One of the commission’s own alternative dispute resolution processes can help resolve through mediation, in which the county, community and the company sit at the same table before a neutral judge,” Perez said in his letter. “The realistic goal is negotiated and foreseeable emissions concessions, not closure.”
The refinery’s emissions record “warrants scrutiny,” Perez argued in his letter. He stated that the refinery received five notices of violation from TCEQ regarding its own emissions reports in 2018. The refinery also reported 4,008 pounds of unauthorized emissions in 2020, Perez said.
“These are not isolated lapses,” Perez said in his letter. “They reflect repeated failures to operate within the limits that the commission has set. The trend in this facility’s reported toxic releases compounds the concern.”
Aaron Martinez is a reporter for the El Paso Times. He may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: TCEQ grants El Paso leaders hearing on Marathon Refinery’s air permit
Reporting by Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
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By Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times | USA TODAY Network
