HOUSTON – A refinery in Pasadena is the subject of a federal lawsuit from the Sierra Club and Environment America, Inc.
The suit, filed Mar. 2 in the Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas, claims that Pasadena Refining System, Inc. owns and operates a petroleum facility rife with violations triggered by air pollutants on Pasadena’s north side.
Sierra Club and Environment America, doing business as Environment Texas, assert the emissions in question violate the Clean Air Act-mandated permits issued to the defendant by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
“PRSI’s violations include emissions of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds in excess of numeric emission limits contained in its permits,” the suit says.
Per the original petition, the refinery, located at 111 Red Bluff Rd., is adjacent to a residential area and a school, and was the site of the purported four incidents:
· A fire on Sept. 30, 2011
· A fire on Dec. 10, 2011
· An explosion on Mar. 5, 2016
· A chemical release on July 25, 2016
Individuals who live and work in the vicinity of the refinery allege the respondent’s activities have caused them to modify their behavior, the suit says.
Consequently, the complainants seek unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney Philip H. Hilder of the law firm Hilder & Associates, P.C. in Houston serves as their lead counsel.
Houston Division of the Southern Division of Texas Case No. 4:17-CV-0660