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Houston-based Phillips 66 faces federal charges related to alleged Clean Water Act violations

The Houston-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease, the U.S. Department of Justice said. Photo via phillips66.com

Oil company Phillips 66 has been federally indicted in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in California, authorities said Thursday.

The Houston-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

The company allegedly dumped the wastewater from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system in 2020 and 2021 and did not report the violations, prosecutors said.

Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act. The company faces up to five years of probation on each count and a maximum of $2.4 million in fines.

An arraignment date has not been set.

“Phillips 66 will continue its cooperation with the U.S. Attorney’s office and is prepared to present its case in these matters in court,” a spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “The company remains committed to operating safely and protecting the health and safety of our employees and the communities where we operate.”

Last month, Phillips announced it would close its Southern California refinery by the end of 2025, citing market concerns. That refinery accounts for about 8% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state’s Energy Commission.

The company also operates a refinery near San Francisco that accounts for about 5% of California’s refining capacity, according to the state Energy Commission.

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A View From HETI

Ten climatetech startups were named most-promising at this annual Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum. Photo courtesy Rice Alliance.

Investors at the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum have named the 10 most-promising startups among the group of 100 clean tech companies participating in the event.

The 22nd annual event was held yesterday, Sept. 18, at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business and was part of the second Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

The most-promising startups will receive $7,000 in in-kind legal services from Baker Botts.

The 10 most-promising companies included:

  • Houston-based Xplorobot, which has developed laser gas imaging technology for the first handheld methane detection device approved by the EPA as an alternative test method
  • Seattle-based Badwater Alchemy, a desalination company that uses nano materials to purify saline water at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods
  • San Francisco-based Ammobia, which is developing a clean ammonia production process
  • Illinois-based Celadyne Technologies, which is building hydrogen for industrial decarbonization with durable and efficient fuel cells and electrolyzers
  • Massachusetts-based MacroCycle Technologies, which converts plastic waste in the form of bottles, food trays and polyester textiles into virgin-grade mPET resin
  • Yorkshire, England-based AtoMe, a global developer of zero-carbon fertiliser products
  • Colorado-based Advanced Thermovoltaic Systems (ATS) Energy, a renewable energy semiconductor manufacturing company
  • North Carolina-based Lukera Energy, which is converting waste methane into high-value fuel
  • Midland, Texas-based AI Driller, a company that uses AI and machine learning to enable remote operations and provide historical drilling data for survey management, anti-collision monitoring and iob reporting
  • New York-based Fast Metals Inc., which has developed a chemical process to extract valuable metals from complex toxic mine tailings that is capable of producing iron, aluminum, scandium, titanium and other rare earth elements using industrial waste and waste CO2 as inputs

Arculus Solutions won the People's Choice Award. The New Jersey-based company retrofits natural gas pipelines for safe hydrogen transportation. It also won Track A: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, Buildings, Water, & Other Energy Solutions at the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition during CERAWeek earlier this year.

The 100 energy technology ventures selected to participate in the forum were named earlier this year. See the full list here.

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