Fines & Bright Spots

FINES

LOUISIANA REFINING COMPANY FINED $14M
Pelican Refining Company pled guilty to felony charges in Louisiana. The Houston-based oil company was charged with violating the Clean Air Act and obstruction of justice and faces $12 million in criminal penalties and an additional $2 million in community service payments. Officials from Pelican have publicly admitted that the company lacked any environmental department or budget, and that the refinery also lacked the necessary equipment to remain in environmental compliance. Pelican's vice president at the Lake Charles, LA refinery, Byron Hamilton, faces up to a one year prison sentence as well as over $400,000 in fines for knowingly violating the Clean Air Act.

OSHA FINES TRAILER MANUFACTURER $949,800
Sumner, Texas-based PJ Trailers Manufacturing Co. Inc. and Delco Trailers Co. Inc. (owned by PJ Trailers) have been fined nearly $950,000 by OSHA for a combination of 26 serious, 9 repeat, 7 willful and 4 other-than-serious violations. Both companies had made corrections for previous safety violations, but later deserted those measures in favor of production. OSHA conducted its most recent inspection following receipt of a complaint that employees were not properly protected against machinery parts, welding fumes, or excessive noise levels.

BRIGHT SPOTS

US RURAL RENEWABLE GRANTS
In September, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced loans and grants for over 500 agricultural producers to promote environmentally-friendly practices and efficiency. The money is to be provided through the Rural Energy for America Program, which first came into effect in 2008 as part of the Farm Bill initiative. Over $27 million will be funneled through the program. One of the many funded projects is that of Pennsylvania farmer Jay Clifford Sensenig, who will collect methane gas from local farms to produce a supplementary energy source for local utility companies. Other grants will be given to support projects in the wind and solar energy sectors. Funding can only be granted for a maxmium of 25% per project, and cannot exceed $500,000 for renewables or $250,00 for efficiency projects. Over $9 million will be granted for energy efficiency programs.

DOE FINALIZES LOAN GUARANTEE FOR PROJECT AMP
In a project that may be the largest rooftop solar deployment in US history, Steven Chu announced the Department of Energy's finalized partial loan guarantee for $1.4 billion to support Project Amp, which will install photovoltaic solar panels across 750 existing rooftops. The 752 MW of power generated from those panels will contribute directly to the electrical grid. Installations will be built in up to 28 states and is expected to generate clean, renewable power to over 88,000 homes, eliminate 580,000 metric tons of CO₂ annually, and create over 1,000 construction jobs over a 4-year period.