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Royal Dutch Shell PLC

Clean Water Act Violations in Puerto Rico

Date: 01/12/2009 (Date of Announcement)

Misconduct Type: Environment

Enforcement Agency: EPA

Contracting Party: None

Court Type: Civil

Amount: $1,298,800

Disposition: Settlement

Synopsis: Royal Dutch Shell subsidiary Shell Chemical Yabucoa, Inc. of Puerto Rico agreed to pay a $1,025,000 penalty and spend at least $273,800 enhancing its pollution controls and monitoring to remedy Clean Water Act violations. When Shell purchased the facility in 2001, it was not in compliance with its pollution discharge permit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Shell agreed on steps it had to take to bring the facility into compliance. The government alleged Shell failed to fulfill the agreement by discharging pollutants in excess of permit limits, discharging pollutants into Santiago Creek and the Caribbean Sea at unpermitted locations, failing to report certain discharge data, and lacking adequate operation and maintenance of a discharge pipe into the Caribbean Sea. As part of the consent decree, Shell also agreed to Install a 1.34 million gallon storage facility for contaminated stormwater if it restarts petrochemical activities at the facility.