FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1996 (202) 616-2771 (215) 566-2643 TDD (202) 514-1888 QUAKER STATE CORPORATION AGREES TO PAY MORE THAN $3 MILLION FOR CONTAMINATING ENVIRONMENT AT WEST VIRGINIA REFINERY WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Quaker State today agreed to spend more than $3 million to settle charges that it polluted the air, water, and soil at its petroleum processing refinery, near Newell, West Virginia, the United States announced. The company also agreed to improve the facility's pollution control equipment to comply with environmental law. The settlement, filed today in U.S. District Court in Wheeling, resulted from the close cooperation between West Virginia and the federal government. It resolves a lawsuit filed by the United States in 1993, alleging that Quaker State violated the Clean Air Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a law that governs the handling of hazardous waste. Today's action involves Quaker State's Congo refinery, where the company produces motor oil. The State of West Virginia is a party to the settlement and joined the lawsuit brought by the United States. "This settlement will help improve the environment in the Newell area, and sends the message that companies must obey our nation's environmental laws," said Lois J. Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "Quaker State is paying a substantial fine for its past violations and must undertake sweeping action to improve the Congo refinery's pollution control equipment in order to prevent future contamination and to protect the people of West Virginia." "This settlement with Quaker State is an excellent example of a State working closely and in cooperation with a federal agency," said W. Michael McCabe, Region 3 Administrator, United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Had there been a greater willingness on the part of the company to work with the State and EPA at the outset, we could have provided a cleaner and healthier environment several years earlier." "The settlement reached in this case is highly constructive and represents a significant stride in preserving and protecting the environment in West Virginia," said William D. Wilmoth, United States Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia. Under the agreement, Quaker State will pay a $1.75 million fine, with over $500,000 going to the State and the remainder to the federal government. Quaker State also will perform several supplemental environmental projects and improvements, not required by law, valued at over $1.2 million that will reduce emissions of pollutants from the refinery into the environment. Finally, the company will upgrade the wastewater treatment plant and air pollution control equipment at the facility. In a complaint filed in 1993, the United States alleges that Quaker State, among other things, improperly stored and treated hazardous wastewater at its wastewater treatment plant, threatening to contaminate the soil and groundwater in the area. The complaint further alleges that the refinery combusted high levels of hydrogen sulfide gas in violation of federal and State environmental laws. When combusted, hydrogen sulfide produces sulfur dioxide, which contributes to the formation of acid rain. Lastly, the United States alleges that Quaker State improperly and illegally removed asbestos from the Congo refinery while performing maintenance on pipes and vessels at the plant. During a May 1992 inspection, EPA discovered a dumpster of asbestos containing materials that had accumulated over the course of about a year. According to the complaint, Quaker State violated federal law by failing to adequately wet the asbestos and to notify EPA of the removal actions. ### 96-549