Environmentalists Fear Air Impacts Of Refinery Startups After Hurricane

Environmentalists are raising concerns that EPA may invoke a long-standing policy to waive penalties on Gulf Coast refineries shut down by Hurricane Katrina for exceeding permitted emissions limits if they all come back online at similar times and emit more pollutants than expected. At least nine Gulf Coast refineries were shut down because of the hurricane, according to an Aug. 31 Department of Energy report. Environmentalists think there may have been an increase in emissions during the emergency shutdown because...