Revere firm among state’s top polluters

REVERE – A Revere oil distribution company and a Salem power plant are among the state’s top 10 polluters, according to the state’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI).Irving Oil Terminals, 41 Lee Burbank Highway (Route 1A) in Revere, ranked behind only two other companies – Dominion Energy’s Brayton Point coal and oil-burning plant in Somerset and Evergreen Solar in Devens – for quantity of on- and off-site environmental releases.The Dominion facility in Somerset – the state’s biggest polluter – was responsible for releasing 1.2 million pounds of toxins.Evergreen released 732,243 pounds and Irving Oil 360,334 pounds.Dominion’s Salem Harbor electricity-generation plant in Salem ranked seventh on the list, with 187,178 pounds.Last September, the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) penalized Irving Oil Terminals $200,000 for air quality violations at its Revere facility. Irving Oil failed to document the amount of gasoline it transfers as required in its operating permit in order to limit its emissions. As a result, volatile organic compounds and other hazardous air pollutants were emitted above the permitted levels from this facility between October 2008 and December 2009, according to DEP.In addition to the $200,000 penalty, Irving Oil has agreed to install new, state-of-the-art equipment that will collect and control gasoline vapors and reduce emissions by more than 10 fold. The company has agreed to fund $240,000 in energy-efficiency projects for the city of Revere at various municipal buildings, including the replacement of aging boilers, steam traps and thermostats.Dominion spokesman Dan Genest said the TRI report was relatively positive. “Their numbers are based on our numbers. We provide them to EPA,” he said. “We have done a lot of work at Brayton Point. One scrubber went online in 2008 and it has been a tremendous difference.”Genest said emissions at the Salem plant have remain unchanged. Asked about Dominion’s plans to close that plant, he said, “It depends on what happens with the EPA regulations. If everything stays the same, that is probably the direction we would head.”Genest said Dominion supports the TRI program. “We think it’s important for people in communities where we operate to understand what happens at our stations,” he said. “These chemicals are not released in concentrations that do human harm. They are diffused over the course of a year. When you see the numbers, people think there must be barrels and barrels of this stuff laying around. But there isn’t.”Irving Oil did not return a call from the Daily Item.