FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2009 THE TIMES-PICAYUNE B-3

.
Group
.

presses
.refinery
..lawsuit
By Chris Kirkham
, ,St. Bernard bureau

A St. Bernard Parish resi- .

dents group is askiI:!g a federal
judge to allow them to proceed.
with a lawsuit alleging that the
Murphy Oil refinery in Meraux
has emitted far more pollutaI).ts
than allowed under the Clean Air
Act over the past five years.
The group, Concerned Citi-
Zens ,Around Murphy, is repre-
sented by the Tulane Environ-
mental Law.Clinie. The lawsuit
was initially filed late last year,
claiming that Murphy Oil of EI
Dorado, Ark., had exceeded its
permitted limits for emissioJ:ls
more than 120 times since late
2003.
. Attorneys for the group on
'fhursday filed a request for sum-
mary judgment, asking U.S. Dis-
trict Judge Sarah Vance to find
that Murphy is responsible for
at least 24 Clean Air Act viola-
tions, an,d to allow the group
to move forward with the case.
Ultimately the group is asking
for~penalties of $32,500 a day for
each violation.
Attorneys for Murphy have
not yet filed a response. An attOr-
ney' for the company, Kerry Mill-
er, said he does not believe the
. citizens group is a bona fide orga-
niz.ation that has standing to file
ilie-case against Murphy: .. ,.' ..
.Miller said a number of the
violations cited in 2006 came as
Murphy was coming back online
after being shut down for nearly
a year after Hurricane Katrina .
.He said the company will be able
to defend those ~missions. '
Concerned Citizens Around
, 'Murphy is 'registered as a non-
profit with the Louisiana secre-
tary of state's office.
........~
Chris Kirkham can be reached at

ckirkham@timespicayune.com or •
504.826.3321. '

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