ExxonMobil and Total are the most fined companies are almost all oil refiners and chemical manufacturers in southeast Texas. In a single industrial accident, Total Petrochemical's sprawling oil refinery in southeast Texas sprayed tons of sulfuric acid and carbon monoxide into the sky. It has also released toxins such as benzene, regularly surpassed allowable pollution limits, failed to report dozens of emissions, or to even fully identify what or how much was released. Such incidents made Total the most heavily fined polluter in Texas in the 2009.
Exxon Mobil Corp. was third at about US$1.1 mln but was the most frequently fined company with 23 separate actions. Exxon Mobil's Baytown refinery got the company's biggest fine amounting to about US$500,000. It included 23 offenses, including a 17½-hour release that included 5 tons of sulfur dioxide, a half-ton of ammonia, more than 130 tons of carbon monoxide and 900 lbs of hydrogen cyanide.
07-Dec-09 
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