HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that ExxonMobil Corp should pay a $19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex between 2005 and 2013.

A view of the Exxon Mobil refinery in Baytown, Texas September 15, 2008. REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi

U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner issued the ruling in a citizen lawsuit brought under the U.S. Clean Air Act by two environmental groups, Environment Texas and the Sierra Club.

Environment Texas welcomed the decision in the long-running suit, which was first filed in 2010.

“We think it might be the largest citizen suit penalty in U.S. history,” said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas. “It definitely means it pays not to pollute.”

Exxon said it would consider its legal options and may appeal the ruling.

“We disagree with the court’s decision and the award of any penalty,” Exxon spokesman Todd Spitler said in an emailed statement. “As the court expressed in its decision, ExxonMobil’s full compliance history and good faith efforts to comply weigh against assessing any penalty.”

The suit was filed under a provision of the Clean Air Act that allows citizens to sue when regulators have failed to stop pollution. The two groups had contended the penalty could run as high as $573 million, but had only sought $41 million.

In a 101-page decision, Hittner ruled there had been 16,386 days of violations and 10 million pounds (4.5 million kg) of pollutants had been released in violation of operating permits issued to Exxon for the Baytown complex.

“The court finds given the number of days of violations and the quantitative amount of emissions released as a result, the seriousness factor weighs in favor of the assessment of a penalty,” he wrote.

The decision comes about a year after the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined Hittner had errored in a 2014 ruling assessing Exxon’s liability for pollution from the refinery, chemical plant and olefins plant in the Baytown complex in the eastern suburbs of Houston.

The Fifth Circuit Court sent the case back to Hittner to reassess Exxon’s liability.

The Baytown complex, which includes the second largest refinery in the United States, is regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), which had fined Exxon $1.4 million for pollution. Hittner deducted that amount in determining the penalty.

The penalty will be paid to the federal government. Hittner said Exxon was liable for legal fees incurred by the two environmental groups.</s>A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that ExxonMobil Corp should pay a US$19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refinery between 2005 and 2013, according to the decision accompanying the ruling.

HOUSTON: A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that ExxonMobil Corp should pay a US$19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refinery between 2005 and 2013, according to the decision accompanying the ruling.

U.S. District Court Judge David Hittner issued the ruling in a citizen lawsuit brought under the U.S. Clean Air Act by Environment Texas and the Sierra Club.</s>ExxonMobil was ordered to pay $20 million in fines for releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants into the air from a Texas chemical plant.

District Judge David Hittner said that the company violated the Clean Air Act 16,386 times from 2005 to 2013, CNN reports. The court also found the company reaped millions economically because it delayed improvements at the facility where it released the pollutants , located in Baytown, Tex.

READ MORE: Judge Rules ExxonMobil Must Hand Over 41 Years of Climate Documents

For the majority of that time period, the company was headed by current Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who became CEO in 2006.

According to CNN, Exxon will also have to pay the fees for the environmental groups who sued them.

"We disagree with the court's decision and the award of any penalty," Exxon said in a statement to CNN.</s>ExxonMobil has lost a legal fight against environmentalists in its home state of Texas over air pollution at one of the oil giant's oldest refineries.

A Texas court ordered Exxon (XOM) on Wednesday to pay $20 million in fines for pollutants released into the air at the Baytown, Texas refining and chemical plant outside of Houston.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner cited "serious" violations that resulted in the release of about 10 million pounds of pollutants into the atmosphere.

The judge ruled in favor of the Sierra Club and Environment Texas Citizen Lobby, finding Exxon violated the Clean Air Act 16,386 times between October 2005 and September 2013.

The court found that Exxon enjoyed $14.2 million in economic benefits by delaying the installation of infrared imaging and other monitoring improvements at the facility, which makes everything from jet fuel to plastic.

"Today's decision sends a resounding message that it will not pay to pollute Texas," Neil Carman, clean air program director for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, said in a statement. "We will not stand idly by when polluters put our health and safety at risk."

In addition to the civil penalties, Exxon has also been ordered to pay the environmental groups' legal and expert fees.

"We disagree with the court's decision and the award of any penalty," Exxon said in a statement.

Exxon said it plans to consider its legal options, including appealing the ruling.

The environmental groups initially sued Exxon in 2010 over the Baytown facility, which is the largest petroleum and petrochemical complex in the US. Exxon won the initial lawsuit, but that ruling was reversed on appeal.

Exxon lost another battle last week when the Trump administration denied the oil giant's request to bypass sanctions to drill for oil in Russia.

Exxon is also being investigated for allegedly misleading the public and shareholders about what it knew about the dangers of climate change. The company has denied wrongdoing.</s>In a huge win for environmental groups, a federal judge has ordered ExxonMobil to pay nearly $20 million for spewing millions of pounds of excess air pollution from its Houston-area industrial facilities.

The Sierra Club and Environment Texas sued the energy giant in 2010, alleging that over a five-year period it had emitted more than 8 million pounds of hazardous chemicals and other contaminants from its sprawling Baytown complex than is allowed by state and federal law and clean air permits. The 3,400-acre complex about 25 miles east of Houston houses a refinery and chemical, olefins and plastics plants.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner originally ruled in favor of ExxonMobil, finding in 2014 that only a tiny fraction of its emissions events were bad enough to warrant legal action — and handing down no penalties. But last May, the conservative-leaning Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Hittner’s ruling and sent the case back to him “for assessment of penalties based on the correct number of actionable violations.”

On Wednesday, almost a year after the Fifth Circuit decision, Hittner issued a judgment ordering the world’s largest oil company to pay $21.3 million, as well as plaintiffs’ attorneys fees. But he subtracted $1.4 million in fines the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality had already assessed against the company for such air emission events, bringing assessed penalties to $19.9 million.

In his 101-page ruling, Hittner also agreed with environmental groups that ExxonMobil had saved some $14.2 million by not complying with clean air act rules and regulations.

Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas, said he believes the penalty is the “largest penalty resulting from a citizen suit in U.S. history.” Under the federal Clean Air Act, citizens are allowed to sue the federal government for violations of emissions standards or limitations.

“This ruling shows how crucial the citizen enforcement provision of the Clean Air Act really is for Texas residents,” Metzger said in a statement. “It means that private citizens victimized by the world’s biggest polluters can get justice in the American court system, even when government regulators look the other way.”

In an emailed statement, ExxonMobil said it disagreed with the court's decision and the award of any penalty and "will consider legal options including appeal of the court's decision."

"As the court expressed in its decision, ExxonMobil's full compliance history and good faith efforts to comply weigh against assessing any penalty," the statement said.

Environmental groups have filed several citizen suits against Texas energy companies in recent years for excess air pollution, pointing to what they describe as lax enforcement by state and federal environmental regulators. They have won multi-million dollar settlements with several other energy giants like Shell and Chevron. ExxonMobil, however, decided to go to trial.

The favorable rulings against the energy companies call into question government policies that allow industrial facilities to claim that such excess emission events were unavoidable because of malfunctions or maintenance — known as "affirmative defense." Records show that state regulators accept those claims the vast majority of the time, rarely issuing fines or negotiating with companies to reduce them. At the ExxonMobil trial, an employee testified that the company almost always initially claims the affirmative defense even when it is not sure it meets all the requirements.

Read more of the Tribune's coverage:
• Texas environmental groups have scored a major victory in a six-year legal battle with the world’s largest oil company. 



Disclosure: Exxon Mobil Corp. has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

Meet Paige: Our new Facebook Messenger bot helps you keep track of the 85th Legislature. Subscribe by messaging HELLO to m.me/texastribune.org. Learn more.</s>HOUSTON (CN) – A federal judge Wednesday ordered Exxon Mobil to pay the United States nearly $20 million for Clean Air Act violations at its massive petrochemical complex near Houston.

Exxon’s complex in Baytown, 25 miles east of Houston, sprawls on 3,000 acres along the Houston Ship Channel.

Exxon employs 7,000 people at the complex: a forbidding collection of metal and steam, 10,000 miles of tightly packed pipe, winding among large domed storage tanks and towers that intermittently spew flames that burn off emissions from the refining process.

It has the capacity to refine 550,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produce 13 billion pounds of petrochemicals, according to the case record.

The $19.9 million penalty ordered by U.S. District Judge David Hittner resolves a Clean Air Act citizen’s suit the Sierra Club and Environment Texas Citizen Lobby filed in 2010.

Exxon released 10 million pounds of illegal air pollution from the plant from 2005 to 2013, according to the case record.

The Clean Air Act allows people to sue companies for violating emission limits on air pollutants. Exxon said it’s considering appealing the order, but if it stands Exxon must pay full penalty to the Treasury Department.

The environmental groups established standing through the testimony of their members who lived near the complex and said they often smelled chemicals and saw flares and smoke and brown haze over the plant.

One woman said her breathing problems went away after she moved from her home a mile from the complex to a city in central Texas.

Hittner’s 101-page ruling is an about-face from his December 2014 order in which he held that the environmentalists had not provided enough evidence to prove their claims.

But the Fifth Circuit last year found that Hittner had miscalculated Exxon’s violations, vacated his 2014 ruling and remanded.

Environment Texas director Luke Metzger praised the ruling and the Clean Air Act for giving people a way to fight polluters in court.

“This ruling shows how crucial the citizen enforcement provision of the Clean Air Act really is for Texas residents. It means that private citizens victimized by the world’s biggest polluters can get justice in the American court system, even when government regulators look the other way,” Metzger said in a statement.

Exxon also suffered a setback last week when the federal government refused to give it a waiver of U.S. sanctions against Russia to drill for oil in the Black Sea.

But the Irving, Texas-based company is still one of the most profitable in the world. It reported profits of $7.8 billion in 2016, down from $41 billion in 2012 and $44 billion in 2013.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was Exxon CEO from 2006 until January this year, during which time he developed a cozy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, signing a lucrative deal with Russia in 2011 to drill for oil in the Arctic Circle.

He overcame concerns in Congress about Putin’s influence over him and the Senate confirmed him as President Donald Trump’s secretary of state in February.

Because of the length of the ruling, it was posted in five parts.</s>BAYTOWN, Texas (AP) - A judge has ordered Exxon Mobil to pay a penalty of nearly $20 million for releasing 10 million pounds of pollutants into the air over the course of eight years from a refining and chemical complex east of Houston.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner in a ruling Wednesday determined that Texas-based Exxon on thousands of occasions from 2005 to 2013 violated federal clean-air standards.

The Houston Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/2oMZ7Lr ) the finding is the result of a lawsuit filed in 2010 by two environmental groups.

The groups argued Exxon collected more than $14 million in economic benefits by delaying measures to curb the emissions from its plant in Baytown. They contend the pollution could have been detected earlier using improvements such as infrared imaging technology.

Exxon says it's considering an appeal.</s>A federal judge ruled today that Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) should pay a $19.95M civil penalty for releasing 10M lbs. of pollutants into the air from its Baytown, Texas, refinery during 2005-13.

The judge accepted the plaintiffs’ argument that XOM collected more than $14M in so-called economic benefits by delaying actions that would have curbed the emissions, and said the evidence showed the company’s emissions had put it in violation of the Clean Air Act more than 16K times.

The Sierra Club and Environment Texas Citizen Lobby filed suit against XOM in 2010, but the district court ruled in the company’s favor in 2014; last year, the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the judge's original decision and ordered him to reconsider the case.</s>Judge David Hittner found the oil giant violated pollution laws for more than 16,000 days at the largest petrochemical and petroleum complex in the country.

A federal court in Houston has ruled against Exxon-Mobil in a pollution lawsuit filed by environmentalists.

On Wednesday, the court fined the giant energy company nearly $20 million dollars for violating the federal Clean Air Act at its Baytown facility.

Two environmental groups – Environment Texas and the Sierra Club – sued Exxon-Mobil in 2010 and accused it of violating federal pollution laws.

The Baytown complex is believed to be the largest petrochemical and petroleum complex in the U.S. District Judge David Hittner found the company violated pollution laws there for more than 16,000 days.

The groups who sued celebrated the win and said they believe it’s the largest-ever fine levied in this type of lawsuit. The company said in a statement it disagrees with the ruling and is considering its legal options, including appealing the judge’s decision.

The case did show the company tried to clean up its act. Court documents indicate annual pollution violations at the facility dropped by 95 percent in recent years.

The almost $20 million fine isn’t small. But evidence in the case showed the company has already spent more than $1 billion on environmental improvements and regulatory compliance at the facility.
David Hittner, U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of Texas, rules ExxonMobil Corporation should pay a $19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex for 16,386 days of violations and 10 million pounds (4.5 Gg) of pollutants that were released in violation of operating permits between 2005 and 2013.