WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil will pay nearly $6.1 million in civil penalties for violations of a court-approved Clean Air Act agreement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department said on Wednesday.
The EPA said Exxon failed to monitor the sulfur content in some fuel gas streams at four refineries, breaching a 2005 settlement between the oil company and federal regulators.
Under the original agreement, Exxon was already required to pay a $7.7 million civil penalty, $6.7 million in environmental projects in areas surrounding the company's refineries and to install pollution controls at six U.S. refineries.
"The 2005 settlement has already resulted in major reductions in air emissions from the company's refineries, but we need full compliance to realize all the benefits of the settlement," said Granta Nakayama, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance in a statement.
The four Exxon refineries with the EPA violations are located in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas, Torrance, California, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe)
