Arco Rated Worst Polluter in Study of 15 Refineries

A nonprofit research group on Thursday fingered Atlantic Richfield Co. of Los Angeles as the worst polluter among 15 refiners it examined in an annual study of corporate environmental records, singling out Arco’s Carson refinery as being particularly bad.

The New York-based Council on Economic Priorities put Arco at the bottom its list assessing oil company environmental performance.

Houston-based Sun Co. won the group’s highest overall rating, followed by Exxon and Chevron.

Arco believes that faulty data inadvertently supplied by the company to the EPA were partly responsible for its low ranking, said Russ Stager, manager of refinery services at the Carson refinery.

In addition, it appears that the council used other inaccurate data, he said.

“We think we have one of the cleanest refineries in the nation,” Stager said.

Arco, according to the watchdog group, had toxic emissions that were more that 2.4 times higher than those of Sun and Exxon.

“Of particular concern is the Arco Los Angeles refinery in Carson . . . which had the highest toxic emissions and waste generation compared to its other two refineries,” the council said in a statement.

The group spent eight months reviewing documents from 15 corporations and rated the companies according to environmental impact, environmental management systems and corporate environmental reporting.

The council, as part of its annual “Campaign for Cleaner Corporations,” said it encourages consumers and investors to “avoid the worst companies and reward the best.”