South Portland council to hold public discussion of EPA lawsuit against petroleum company

A federal pollution lawsuit against a petroleum company that caught city officials by surprise this week will get a public airing when the City Council meets Tuesday night.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit and consent decree Monday charging Global Partners LP with violating the Clean Air Act for several years at its petroleum storage facility on the Fore River.

The consent decree outlines the terms of a proposed settlement that would force Global to pay $190,000 in penalties and reduce emissions at the facility, which is off Lincoln Street, at the end of Clark Road, near the Forest City Cemetery and the Pleasantdale neighborhood.

Global stores asphalt and No. 6 heavy fuel oil in huge heated tanks that have the potential to emit more than 50 tons of hazardous volatile organic compounds into the air each year, the complaint says. That’s more than double the 21.9 tons per year allowed under an emissions license issued by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection in 2013.

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