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Home » Air District Settles Case With Air Liquide After Emissions Violations

Air District Settles Case With Air Liquide After Emissions Violations

by CLAYCORD.com
4 comments

Industrial gas company Air Liquide announced Thursday that it’s agreed to pay $159,000 in settlement fees to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District for violations at its hydrogen plant in Contra Costa County.

Between 2016 and 2021, the refinery received seven notices for non-complaince with air quality standards, the air district said.

Concerns listed in the settlement include minor emission-related violations, emission excess that continued after repair efforts, continuous use of a non-certified monitoring system and “minor administrative violations.”

“Protecting air quality for all Bay Area residents is our top priority,” stated Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. “This settlement is a tool to ensure that Air Liquide takes responsibility to comply with air quality regulations and does not jeopardize public health through its operations.”

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The air district will use the settlement funds to pay for the inspection and enforcement activities involved in this case.

4 comments


WC---Creeker January 14, 2022 - 10:30 AM - 10:30 AM

I’m all for public safety and having businesses comply with the rules. This seems like ticky tacky stuff that just irritates businesses that will cause them to leave and take their jobs and tax revenue to the state, somewhere else. The main goal is for BAAQMD to justify their existence.

Pete V. January 14, 2022 - 2:58 PM - 2:58 PM

Having personal experience with BAAQMD in very similar circumstances, I can say with a high degree of certainty this wasn’t Air Liquide trying pull a fast one. We’ve had emissions monitors/analyzers that will fail and we move Heaven & Earth to get them repaired and back online. And even though actual emissions do not exceed any particular threshold amount (confirmed by redundant analyzers), the mere fact the analyzer is offline gets the District up your a**…and they’re very adversarial about it, threatening fines from the word Go, whereas plants in other states like TX, LA, and AZ, the district/state people act as a partner in doing what they can to fix the situation.

Old Timer January 14, 2022 - 10:48 AM - 10:48 AM

So they gave a raise to there selves.This money should have gone to community after all it’s our air.Better yet make the company use those funds for training and equipment repairs to prevent future problems.

Cellophane January 14, 2022 - 10:58 AM - 10:58 AM

The Air District should have never been allowed to levy any fine.

There are two reasons.

One, appointed political supporters are not elected. There should be no legal means for wealthy donators to pick up a free ride. This shows the incredible lack of integrity of the politicians and their top donors.

Two, appointees have many interests other than their appointed roles. These other interests can create a conflict of interest. People of good character values would not accept such appointments because of the potential conflicts.

Reporting air quality is one thing, enforcing statutes is another.

The Air Board should not have the authority to perform the later.


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