Phillips 66 Is Accused of Violating the Clean Water Act

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Phillips 66 on charges of violating the Clean Water Act by dumping nearly 800,000 gallons of contaminated wastewater into the Los Angeles County sewer system and failing to report the incident to authorities.The Houston-based oil company was charged with releasing wastewater that contained excessive amounts of oil and grease from a refinery in Carson, Calif., in 2020 and 2021, the Justice Department said Thursday.“Protecting our environment is key to protecting our community,” Martin Estrada, the U.S.attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement.

“Just like the rest of us, corporations have a duty to follow the law, so when companies contaminate, they must be held accountable.”The Justice Department charged Phillips 66 with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the act.The company faces up to five years of probation on each count and a maximum of $2.4 million in fines.A spokesman for the company, Thaddeus Herrick, said Phillips 66 “will continue its cooperation with the U.S.

attorney’s office and is prepared to present its case in these matters in court.”“The company remains committed to operating safely and protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities where we operate,” he said.The Justice Department accused Phillips 66 of discharging contaminated wastewater on two occasions.For over two and half hours on Nov.24, 2020, the indictment said, the Carson oil refinery released 310,000 gallons of wastewater containing about 64,000 pounds of oil and grease.

The oil-and-grease concentration of the water was about 300 times the amount allowed under the company’s permit.On Feb.8, 2021, the facility discharged 480,000 gallons of wastewater containing about 33,700 pounds of oil and grease over five and a half hours, the indictment said.Mr.

Estrada said on a call with reporters that investigators believed tha...