Shell CARBOB Settlement
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$253,000 in Fines Paid by Shell
1. Tesoro reported that on April 29, 2004, CARBOB being transferred from a marine vessel into a tank at the Kinder Morgan facility in Carson was contaminated with desulfurized gas oil. Since the importer, Westport, designated the marine vessel as the import facility, it is not legal to add anything to the CARBOB downstream other than oxygenate. It has been determined that Shell was responsible for the contamination; the case was settled for $30,000 in May 2007.
2. On June 20, 2005, Shell self-reported an incident of CARBOB contamination that had occurred on June 18, 2005 at their Wilmington refinery. During routine refinery operations, a line-up error caused conventional gasoline intended for Arizona to be piped into the regular grade CARBOB tank that was supplying the sales rack. The case was settled for $53,000 in May 2007.
3. Routine sampling on August 10, 2005 at Shell's Wilmington refinery found that the regular grade CARBOB being sold from Tank 80209 had a Reid vapor pressure of 5.50 pounds per square inch (psi), although the predictive model 5 submitted for this fuel had a maximum of 5.16 psi. The case was settled for $75,000 in May 2007.
4. Shell self-reported that on July 4, 2006, regular grade gasoline was distributed from their Carson terminal that had been underoxygenated. They were blending mid-grade at the rack by combining regular grade CARBOB that was certified for 7.7 percent ethanol with premium grade CARBOB that was certified for 5.7 percent ethanol. The CARBOBs were mixed inline, the combination to be oxygenated further downline at 6.7 percent. However, the premium injection failed, so the mid-grade consisted entirely of regular CARBOB oxygenated at 6.7 percent. The case was settled for $95,000 in May 2007.