On April 1, 2002, the Justice Department, the EPA, and the State of Illinois announced a settlement with Premcor Refining Group, Inc. in which Premcor is to pay $6.25 million to resolve claims that it violated five environmental statutes at its Blue Island Refinery in Blue Island, Illinois. The complaint alleged violations of the Clean Air Act; the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act; the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act; and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act, as well as State of Illinois environmental laws and regulations.

The claims were originally made in a 1998 complaint that was part of the Justice Department's Mississippi River Initiative, a comprehensive federal effort to keep illegal pollution out of the river and to restore the river and the surrounding communities to the historic grandeur. The water-related violations alleged against Premcor's Blue Island Refinery include illegal discharges into the Cal-Sag Canal West of Chicago which eventually flow into the Mississippi River. Other alleged violations of the Clean Water Act were discharges of illegal levels of pollutants to the local, publicly owned wastewater treatment plant. Additionally, there were alleged violations of the Clean Air Act in that the refinery exceeded emission limits for sulfur dioxide, a precursor of acid rain.

The Blue Island Refinery was in operation, under various owners, from the 1920s to January 2001 when it was closed. Prior to closure, the refinery processed approximately 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Principal end products were gasoline, liquid petroleum gas, jet fuel, diesel fuel, heating oil and asphalt.

This represent a second settlement with the Premcor Refinery Group, Inc. for violations of environmental laws at its refineries. An earlier settlement involved Clean Air Act violations at its Hartford, Illinois refinery on July 12, 2001. Premcor formerly was Clark Refining and Marketing.

The consent decree was filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago and is subject to a 30-day public comment period and court approval.