KINDER MORGAN WATCH

Kinder Morgan assessed $1 million for Port Manatee air pollution

http://tampabay.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2010/02/15/daily32.html

Kinder Morgan Port Manatee Terminal LLC agreed to plead guilty to four violations of the Clean Air Act and pay fines totaling $1 million.

As part of the plea agreement, KMPMT will pay a $750,000 criminal fine and make a $250,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to a release from U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton.

The company also agreed to serve two years of probation and implement an environmental compliance plan.

KMPMT operates a dry bulk material handling and storage facility at Port Manatee on a six-acre site that includes four warehouses.

Among products it receives and ships are granular fertilizers and cement products, which generate particulate matter — an air pollutant regulated by the Clean Air Act — when handled incorrectly, the release said.

The company’s “baghouse” air pollutant control systems were not operated or maintained properly at various times.

A parallel enforcement action brought by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection resulted in a civil penalty of $331,000, the release said.

KMPMT, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP in Houston, Tex., identified problems with its equipment during an internal audit and self-reported its findings, a company release said. The company has replaced and repaired equipment and terminated some employees as a result of its findings.