CVR Energy to Pay $23 Million for Excess Pollution From Coffeyville Refinery

CVR Energy (CVI.N) agreed to pay more than $23 million for emitting excess sulfur dioxide from its petroleum refinery in Coffeyville, Kansas, in a settlement announced by the U.S. Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday.

Under an agreed upon consent decree, CVR's Coffeyville Resources Refining and Marketing unit (CRRM) must install a $9 million flare gas recovery system, spend $1 million on a Kansas-approved environment-friendly project, and pay over $13 million in fines.

The new flare gas recovery system will lower annual greenhouse gas emissions by 12,888 tons, equivalent to using 1.3 million fewer gallons of gasoline every year, and will also cut sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions, the EPA projected.

The refinery emitted 2,300 excess tons of sulfur dioxide, which can make breathing difficult, cause acid rain, and damage trees and plants. Nitrogen oxide primarily contributes to smog formation.

After paying a nearly $1 million penalty as part of a consent decree in 2012 for environmental violations, CRRM had been under investigation by the United States and Kansas since 2016 for additional Clean Air Act violations, leading to Monday's settlement.

(Reporting by Daksh Grover and Deep Vakil; Editing by Bill Berkrot)