Liquid Titan of Parker to Pay $55,000 Penalty to Resolve Air Quality, Waste Violations in La Paz County

PHOENIX (March 18, 2010) – The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Arizona Attorney General’s Office announced today that LiquidTitan, LLC of Parker has agreed to pay a $55,000 penalty under a consent judgment for air quality and waste violations at its used oil and petroleum facility in La Paz County.

ADEQ inspections over a four-year period revealed a host of violations at the refinery, which produces gasoline, diesel fuel and used oil fuels and is located at 31645 Industrial Lane in Parker.

The air violations included failing to stop releases of volatile organic compounds because vapor leaks and blockages in the vent lines to the refinery flare kept emissions from being controlled; burning of used oil fuel without an air quality permit revision; and failure to comply with self-inspection, sampling, testing, record keeping and reporting requirements.

The waste violations included failing to stop releases of used fuel oil to the soil from tanks and leaking valves; constructing and operating used oil storage and processing tanks without required backup containment; failure to label, properly store and dispose of used oil sludge containing elevated concentrations of lead and chlorine without a hazardous waste permit; and failure to properly screen or sample used oil for a variety of contaminants.

LiquidTitan has hired environmental management firms and spent about $900,000 since 2006 to return to and maintain compliance. 

“Environmental stewardship is always good business because it saves money over the long run and reduces risk to public health.  In this case, the company has stepped forward to fix air and waste violations and invest in long term compliance and that’s good news for the environment and economy of Arizona,” ADEQ Director Benjamin H. Grumbles said. 

"Any company handling used oil products needs to rigorously comply with state standards to protect the health of our citizens and our environment," Attorney General Terry Goddard said.

The consent judgment is subject to court approval.