L37C401 :flIr?fH'i'I?v'; j_ .- 1' IMPERIAL 0 I L LIM I TED /II St. C lair At,-enue West, T oront o. Canada ,\.lS1,V 1K3 H . H . CLARE C.N V I RONMENTAL PROT ECT ION COORO 1980- 08- 06 I NATOR File No. 801 Environmental Quality Committee Members~ Toxic Substances Subcommittee of EQC Members Corporate Managers ·Marketing Region Managers Refinery Managers Region Environmental Advisors Mr. R. G. Ernst - Esso Eastern Inc . , Houston Mr. L. B. Shore - Essa Europe Inc., London Mr. H.B . Prall - Esso Inter ·- America Inc . , Coral Gables Mr. R. J. Campion - Exxon Company, U.S.A., Houston Mr. A. M. Natkin - Exxon Cor poration , New York Dr. V. A. Newill - Exxon Corporation, East Millstone Dr. H. R. Gould - Exxon Production Research Co., Houston - Exxon Research and Engineering Co., Linden Dr. J. A. Price Dr. M. B. Glaser - Exxon Research and Engineering Co., F. P. Gent l emen: I have attached Review of Environmental for your information Protection Activities a copy of the for 1978-1979 of Imperia l Oil Limited. Yours very truly, HHC/js At t. (Copies of attachment sent to Management Committee and CAC by CAC Exec. Secy. ) ENVIRO NMENTAL PROTECTIO N REVI EW I i I I AND COORDI NATION ACTIVITIES 1978 - 1979 C O N T E N T S I . II. PERSPECTIVE l . Internat i onal A. Areas of Progress B. Some Major Top i c Issues 2. U. S. Review A. Leg i slation and Regulat i ons 8 . Quality of the U. S. Environment 3 3. Canad i an Review A. Legislation and Regulations B. Quality of the Envi ronment C. Pub li c Atti tudes and Participation 7 PERFORM ANCE, PROBLEMS, AND PLANS OF OPERATINGDEPARTMENTS 1. Esso Resources Canada Limit ed A. Expl orat ion and Production B. Heavy Oi l C. Minerals 11 2. Logistics l4 3. Marketing 15 4. Esso Chemical 5. Oi l Spi ll Canada Statist ic s 15 16 I I I I I I I I I I I I I r I [ III . COORDINATION ACTIVITIES 1. Technical Ef for t, 2. Industry Act i vities A. B. C. D. E. 3. 4. Expenditu res, Budget l8 Qual ity Committe e 21 Summary of Ac t i vities Toxic Substance Contr ol 0 i l Sp i 11 Con·t i n gen c y Pl an n i n g Coor dinat ion Departm e nt Act i vities A. B. 17 Arctic Petrol e um Operators ' Assoc iation PACE Canad ian Chemical Producers' Associat io n Canadian Manufacturers' Associ a tion Cost of Environmental Associations Environmental A. 8. C. ~ General Exxon's Environmenta l Health Activ i t ies 24 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I SECTION I PERSPECTIVE - ISS UES AND LEGISLATION l . INTERNATIONAL A. Areas of Progress The United Nations Environmental Program, despite politic al bickering, in adequate staf f ing, and uncerta i n funding , has pr ovided excellent counse l to ma ny UN agency program and pol ic y foru ms. I n his re port to th e Eighth Session of the General Council meeti ng in Na irob i, Apr i l 16 -29 , 1980 , Dr. Mostafa Tolba li s t ed 17 areas o f progress Nine of th ese are l isted on Char t I. Chart 1 I Chart I I I I Ite m 6 is worthyo f comment si nce the UNEP Sec r etariat has bee n as ked to produce a compre hensive re po rt on the "State of the Enviro nme nt " every five years in order to assess progiess , prioritiz~ pr oblems, and develop remedial programs . The Global Environ menta l Monitoring Syste m, by measurement of certain at mosp her ic , terrestial and aquatic parameters, enables a scie ntif ic evaluation of the globe as a habit at for man, other animals, and plants. The development of un if orm gu i delines for cost /bene fit s tu dies an d environ menta l impact assessments is being undertaken by t he Commission on Environme nt of the Inter nation al Chamber o f Commerce . B. Summary of Major Topic (i) Cli matic Iss ues Chang e, Carbon Cycle The glo ba l biog eoche mica l carbo n cy cle is a very complex syst em. I t is assu med t hat t he major co ntr i b utors of CO2 are t he bu ging of·fossil fue ls which ha s been l evel at 4 . 5 x 10 1 grams per y ea r and oxidation o f carbon stored in trees and soil humus. The maj or s ink s are the at mos phere a nd the oceans. The at mos ph ere in 19 78 co nt ai ned 695 x 10 15 grams . 2 Remova l of CO2 i s ac hi e ved by phot osyn t hesis an d 15 eac h y ear it is est imate d that -forests ta ke up 20 x 10 gra ms of carbon . Sin ce a forest remo ves several ti mes t he quantit y of CO2 re moved by c ro ps per un it of area, a major co ncer n e xists wi th r espect to deforestation. . 2 There is no do ubt t hat incre as es in fos sil fuel usage and decrea ses in forest cov er are aggravating t he poten tial problem of increased COz in the atmosphere. Tech no logy e xists to r emove COz from stack gases but removal of only 50% of the COz would double the cost of power gener a tion . UNEP has encourag e sev eral internat intensif y study of the carbon cycle . ( i i) i onal bodies to Heav y Metal s The environ mental heal t h concerns with respect to hea vy metal s have emerged i n the last t hi rty yea rs. They are th e result of industrial proc ess es which put certain heavy metal into the environment in l a rger quant i ties a nd in forms more readily assimilated by plants a nd ani mal s. Eviden ce of a problem ha s nearly al ways shown up when chroni c poi son ing of a local population , us ual ly by food i ntak e, reached epidemic lev e ls . UNEP has sponsored many activities with the World Health Organ iza tion and oth er scientific bodi es to determine the pathways, toxic and threshold limits for heavy metals in t he environm ent and humans. (iii) Transport and the Environ ment The major concern s of r oad and air transport are in the real m of striking proper balances between individual rights and general ne eds for publi c transportation . There is growing concern over the withdrawal of productive la nds for hi ghway s and ai rp orts and fue l efficiency los ses incurred by air pollution control devices . In the se as the major concern has been the environ mental thre at of oil pollution and the loss of coa s tal zone productivity from oil a nd urban and industrial development s . UNEP act ivitie s are mainly to ward guiding developing co unt ries to strike a balance in the des ign and operation of transportation sys t ems . I I I I I) 3 (iv) I I I I I I I I Action In the developi ng co un tries where problems of sanitation, medica l service and sc hooling are most acute , military expenditures are growing most rapidly . UNEP can obviousl y on ly he lp by di mensi .oning environmental horrors of war . ( i v) the Childre n and the Envi ron ment The International Year of the Child ( 1979) focussed wor ld attention on the appa l ling situation of mil l ions of c hi l dren in poor co untries. The sol ution to t his problem l ies first, in effecti ve birt h contro l progra ms and second l y, in a determined effort by wealthy countries to give the f ina ncial , materi al, and management resources and ensure that they are used to provid e water supplies, sanitatio n , better food and better basic shelter. 2. U.S. REVIEW A. Legislation and Regulations In 1978 and 1979 , environmental legislation passed included the Envi ronmental Pesticides Control Act, the Qui et Communities Act, and t he National Parks and Recreaction Act but none with majo r consequences to the petroleum industry . This period witnessed intense regulatory activit y to attem pt t o imp le ment the objectives and compl ex provisions of the si x* major pieces of env iro nmenta l leg i s l ation passed in the previous t hree ye ar period. R 3 The government's major slated purpose in pass ing and implementing environmental legislat io n co ntinues to be pr otection of human health, a goal su pport ed by industry. The means for reac hing t he goal are becoming increas ingly str ing ent; ranging fr om guidelines, l i mitat ion s and standa r ds, u m of Mi litary 1 i g I g Effects The re h a v e b e en l 30 ci vi 1 a n d r e g i o na l t1a rs i n t h e period 1945 -1979. Gl obal expenditures absorb $400 billion per year . There have been 667 nuclear explosions since the partial test ban in i 963 . With t he growing membership in the nuclear club, there is considerable fear of accidents and delibera te sabotage. ~ 0Chart Environmental * Toxic substance Control Act ( 76 ) , Clean Air Act (77) , Clean Water Act (77) , Reso ur ces Conservation and Recovery Act ( 76 ) , Safe Dr inki ng Water Act (7 6 ) , Coasta l Zone Management Act ( 76) . 4 to outright bans. Industry ' s proper role continues to be: to insist that the degree of control applied be based on good scientific evidence, take account of the feas ibility of compl i ance, and to assure that benefits are adequate to justify the costs. A major concern of the U.S . petroleum in dustr y has bee n and continues to be the "Oil and Hazar dous Substance Spi l l Prevention and Contro l Bills" or igi nally dubbed the "Super -F und Bill when it concerned on l y oil now dubbed th e Ul tr a Fun d 8 i l l s i n c e c hemi c a l s p i l l s a n d ha z a rd o u s waste dump problems have been added. Since oi l interests have the deepest and most easily pilfered pocket there is no doubt petroleum will pay a disproportionate share of costs . 11 II B. 11 Quality of t he U.S. Environment In a preface to the Tenth Annua l Report of the Counc il on Environmental Quality, a body whic h ana l yzes and coordinates federal pol ic y and advise s the President and Congress on en vironm ental matters , the Pre side nt states that the report ref lected a decade of solid achieve ment by congress and the Americ an people in impro vi ng the qual it y of t he environment. Chart 4 CEQ has not seen fit or perhaps been able to develop a mathe matica l expression of an overall performance index to gauge progress in ach ie vi ng environmental qua l ity goals. They have deve l oped some yardsticks to reflect the status in some ele ments of the equation and some pertinent examples have been selected from Highlights of the report . 11 (i ) 11 Air Quality "Overall the nat i o·ns air quali t y is i mproving". Combined data fro m 25 maj or metropolitan areas showed 15% fewer unhealthy day s. '' Carbon monoxide has shown mar ked i mprovement " . "Sulfur dio xide prob l ems are the United States " . violat not i,, Jidespread in Fewer than 50 of 753 counties monitored s howed a ny i on of the 24 hour ambie n t air standa r d. 5 "Counties i n the 1,~estern U. S . displayed a decreasi n g n umber o f violations of t he ozone sta n dard " . The ozo n e standard has been increased fro m 0. 0 8 ppm to 0 . 1 2 ppm. JIPol 1 ution contro l systems are ofte malf unct i oning--Co ngress, t herefore, has auto inspectio n and maintenance programsin regio n s where attainment of the ozone dela y ed " . (i i ) "Data sh own vast worse 11 • Water n found to be mandated t hat - be instituted standard wi l l be Qua l it y s hows t hat water qual i t y i n t he U.S . has not i mprove me n t s in ce earl y 1 70 1 s b ut is not ge t ting Point sources ( i n dust r i a 1 pl ants a n d mun i c i pa 1 sewer outfal l s ) affect wate r qu a l it y in 91 % of bas in s, no n -po in t source ( a g ric u ltura l a n d ot her land drainage ) 81%. affect 11 u n U . S . 1 aws a nd soc i a 1 i n st i tut i on s a r e b etter e qui p p e d to de a 1 wi t h po i n t so u rces tha n non - poi n t source co n trol s 11 • 11 "Two- t h irds of the po 1 1 u ti on p rob 1 ems 11 • nation 1 s l a kes ha ve serious D. D. T . , PCB I s a n d o t h e r p e r s i s ta n t c h emi c a l s a re de c 1 i n i n g s 1 owly i n Great La kes f i s h ti s sue" . 11 u g u (i ii ) Toxic Substa nces and Env i ro nmental Health "Up to 50,0 00 dis posal sites in U. S . may co n tain hazardous waste, an ywhere fro m 1 , 2 00 to 2, 00 0 may pose significant r i sk to h uman healt h . There are 500 to 8 00 a b a n don n e d \