FHRPineBend.com - What's the Point?

Learn about Flint Hills Resources' pollution prevention efforts and how you too can make a difference.

You're probably wondering why this site exists. Why would two organizations with such disparate points of view collaborate on a project of this magnitude? Why here? Why now? Here's the history of our collaboration, which may help to answer these questions

MCEA's review of environmental permits
MCEA became interested in a proposed air emissions permit for Flint Hills Resources' Pine Bend refinery because MCEA had recently launched a program to assess the effectiveness of an Environmental Protection Agency project on innovative environmental permitting. Flint Hills Resources had proposed a non-traditional air emissions permit for its Pine Bend refinery. FHR's proposal would allow the refinery to make changes at the refinery without going through traditional environmental review and permitting, provided that total emissions remain below set limits known as Plant-wide Applicability Limits (PALs).

FHR claimed the "PAL permit" would result in both economic and environmental benefits. MCEA was skeptical, and wanted to find out whether the environment would benefit more under a PAL permit than a standard permit. MCEA discovered that answers were extremely difficult to find - for three key reasons.

Information was not easily accessible. In order to view the full proposal and all supporting documents, MCEA staff had to make multiple appointments at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency involving numerous phone calls and trips to the agency's office.

Information was not easily understandable. Most of the material was written in technical and regulatory jargon that required special expertise to "de-code" it into plain English.

Information was not easily verifiable. Even with the assistance of a refinery expert, MCEA had no way of knowing whether any of the calculations were accurate or even the right calculations to use. Lacking trust in both the industry and the regulatory agency, MCEA concluded there was a need for verification of the data.

Environmental problems at the refinery and FHR's promise to "produce change"
The proposed PAL permit was put on hold in May 1998 by the MN Pollution Control Agency when its priority shifted to environmental problems discovered at the refinery. In the spring of 1997, FHR employees claiming to be whistleblowers reported to the MPCA that FHR had violated the Clean Water Act when it improperly used its fire hydrant system to release millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater on refinery grounds. (FHR had reported the practice to the MPCA staff, and MPCA staff conducted numerous inspections in the spring and summer of 1997.)

Also in the summer of 1997, historic leaks of gasoline and other petroleum products from FHR's storage tanks unexpectedly showed up in a spring and wetlands near the Mississippi River. As a result, FHR was fined $6.9 million by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and $8 million by the US EPA. FHR entered into a Consent Decree with the state agency that included a detailed action plan to clean up soil and ground water contamination, prevent future leaks and spills, and resolve compliance issues at the refinery. FHR publicly stated its regret over the problems, its willingness to take full responsibility for the clean up, and pledged to "produce change" at the refinery in an effort to become "among the best in the industry."

50% emissions reduction in 5 years
In 1999 FHR made a pledge to reduce its emissions by 50% over the next 5 years. Using 1997 as the base year (the last full year for which data was available), FHR pledged to reduce emissions from nearly 18,215 tons per year to the air, water and land to 9,000 tons per year. This went beyond any requirements in FHR's current or pending permits.

This site will allow visitors to monitor FHR's progress.

MCEA and FHR begin informal dialogue
MCEA, wondering if FHR really meant what it said, contacted the refinery and asked if company representatives would be willing to discuss what it meant to be an environmental leader. From MCEA's perspective, leadership meant going beyond legal requirements. MCEA wanted to track the refinery's progress by comparing emissions released to product output. MCEA stressed the need for accessible, understandable and verifiable information, based on its review of FHR's proposed PAL permit and regulatory reports. FHR expressed an interest in developing a user-friendly Web site that would provide visitors a complete picture of the refinery, and was interested in MCEA's help. After numerous brainstorming sessions, a formal agreement was reached to collaborate on this joint project.

Work begins
MCEA and FHR agreed to collaborate on a comprehensive set of environmental performance measures for the Pine Bend refinery, to report performance voluntarily to the public on a user-friendly Website, and to assure that the data can be independently verified to be accurate. Additionally, it was agreed that emissions released per unit of crude oil processed would be used to compare FHR's Pine Bend performance to other refineries and total emissions to compare to other industries.

This Web site was developed cooperatively by FHR and MCEA. Two firms were employed to implement the technical development and maintenance of this site. The database of emissions and impacts data was built and is maintained and hosted by Barr Engineering. Strategic consulting, design, architecture and programming services were provided by Zentropy Partners.

Expert review panel
A key to the success of the collaboration was the formation of an Expert Review Panel. Through a joint process, seven specialists were invited by MCEA and FHR to be members of the panel; their expertise includes: environmental health, air quality, wastewater treatment, chemical engineering and pollution prevention. The Panel was formed to help MCEA and FHR develop the framework for this Web site and to review overall content of the site.

Please visit our Contact Us page and feel free to email us with any comments you have about this Web site.

In addition to FHR and MCEA, about which you can read more in the FHR/MCEA section, there are other groups and organizations that provide input to FHR, or have worked with FHR and MCEA in the development of this site:

Community Advisory Council
The Community Advisory Council to Flint Hills Resources, consisting of 19 members, provides two-way communication between the communities surrounding the refinery and the management of Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend refinery. The Council provides its members with an opportunity to discuss and make recommendations to FHR regarding environmental, safety, and other issues of concern to the citizens living within close proximity of the refinery.

Our Community
FHR is situated in or near a number of communities. Our host communities, Rosemount and Inver Grove Heights, MN, are the communities where our refinery is located and where many of our employees live. A number of other communities and political units also interact with FHR and are home to FHR employees.