A grand jury has indicted Phillips 66 for illegally discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater into Los Angeles County's sewer system, and failing to report the violations to authorities.

The indictment against the Houston-based energy company includes four counts of knowingly violating the federal Clean Water Act and two counts of negligently violating that law, U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada in Los Angeles said on Nov. 21.

Phillips 66 is expected to be arraigned in the coming weeks in Los Angeles federal court.

It faces a maximum sentence of five years probation on each count, and $2.4 million in fines.

Phillips 66 did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

According to the Nov. 20 indictment, the discharges came from Phillips 66's refinery in Carson, California.

In the first discharge, the refinery released 310,000 gallons of non-compliant wastewater, containing about 64,000 lb of oil and grease, into Los Angeles' sewers over 2-1/2 hours on Nov. 24, 2020.

The oil-and-grease concentration was as high as 24,700 milligrams per liter, far higher than the 75 milligrams per liter allowed under Phillips' permit, the indictment said.

In the second discharge, the refinery released 480,000 gallons of wastewater containing at least 33,700 lb of oil and grease, for a concentration of 12,900 milligrams per liter, over six hours on Feb. 8, 2021.

Estrada said Phillips 66 acknowledged the discharges only after being contacted by county regulators, and promised in writing after the first discharge to "retrain operations personnel" on how to manage and report discharges.

Comments