CRRM Responds to EPA Press Release Regarding RMP Settlement

SUGAR LAND, Texas, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Coffeyville Resources Refining & Marketing, LLC (CRRM) does not agree with the characterization of either the company or the settlement it reached with EPA, which was announced in a recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 press release. CRRM entered into a settlement with the EPA to resolve claims under the EPA's risk management program (RMP).

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In its press release, EPA refers to prior settlements with the company as evidence of a poor compliance record.  However, the first settlement amended an agreement by CRRM to address legacy environmental liabilities of the previous owner, Farmland Industries. The second settlement was related to a natural disaster in which the refinery was inundated by floodwaters during a July 2007 record flooding event.

"These prior settlements are unrelated to EPA's RMP claims and are not indicative of inherent environmental or safety problems," said Stan Riemann, the company's chief operating officer.

CRRM purchased the Coffeyville, Kan. refinery out of the Farmland Industries bankruptcy in 2004 and has since invested more than $850 million in improvements to safety, the environment and operational reliability of the refinery. 

"The company described in the press release doesn't sound like the CRRM that I know," said Riemann. "We're very proud of our compliance record and the improvements we've made since purchasing the refinery out of bankruptcy in 2004." 

The company's vice president of environmental health & safety, Chris Swanberg, who participated in the settlement negotiations, pointed out that it was CRRM's offer to voluntarily perform the RMP compliance audits. 

"We were surprised to see the EPA suggest otherwise," said Swanberg. "It was our understanding that the agency appreciated CRRM's willingness to be proactive and offer to conduct the audits.

"CRRM is very proud of the work it has done to address the legacy environmental liabilities at the refinery and to improve the safety of its operations. CRRM's offer to conduct comprehensive RMP audits is proof of CRRM's commitment to the environment and compliance, and not evidence of compliance problems that needed to be fixed."

About CVR Refining, LP
Headquartered in Sugar Land, Texas, CVR Refining, LP is an independent downstream energy limited partnership that owns refining and related logistics assets in the Midcontinent United States. CVR Refining's subsidiaries operate a 115,000 barrel per day complex full coking medium-sour crude oil refinery in Coffeyville, Kan., and a 70,000 bpd medium complexity crude oil refinery in Wynnewood, Okla. CVR Refining's subsidiaries also operate supporting logistics assets including approximately 350 miles of pipelines, more than 125 crude oil transports, a network of strategically located crude oil gathering tank farms, and more than six million barrels of owned and leased crude oil storage capacity.

For further information, please contact:

Media Relations:
Angie Dasbach
CVR Refining, LP
913-982-0482
[email protected]

SOURCE CVR Refining, LP