The South Coast Air Quality Management District in California on Friday shot down a proposal to livestream gas flares at local refineries and also rejected the stricter of two proposed air pollution standards.
Community and environmental groups had pushed for more stringent measures to try to hold refineries accountable for unplanned flares that have become more common in the last four years and to improve air quality in the Long Beach area.
The air district’s staff concluded in a report that the $2 billion expense of meeting the stricter standard would not be cost effective, and they acceded to industry concerns that a livestream of the stacks could implicate federal cybersecurity laws governing chemical facilities.
Refineries burn or “flare” gas that accumulates as part of the refining process, producing pollutants sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. The air district regulates a basin with the worst ozone pollution in the U.S. and is tasked with bringing the area into compliance with state and federal standards.
