Geelong Advertiser (Australia): EPA Slams Shell: THE head of the EPA hit out at Shell Geelong yesterday saying it was failing to meet its environmental obligations.He made the claims as the EPA levied Shell Geelong with a $10,000 fine after two breaches of its licence.": Saturday October 1, 2005

THE head of the EPA hit out at Shell Geelong yesterday saying it was failing to meet its environmental obligations.

He made the claims as the EPA levied Shell Geelong with a $10,000 fine after two breaches of its licence.

The EPA said an oil leak into Corio Bay and a visible plume from the refinery's sulphur recovery unit stack were the reason for the fine.

Shell has a month to pay the fine or faces court action.

EPA acting chairman Bruce Dawson said the oil leak occurred in May or June and was picked-up when the environmental body's analyses of oil from the bay matched oil from the company's jetty pipe flange.

Mr Dawson said the second incident occurred while routine work was being carried out on the sulphur stack.

``The licence requires no visible emissions from this stack. While this was an unintentional breach of the licence conditions, EPA's investigations revealed that further maintenance planning and precautions could have helped to avoid the situation,'' he said.

The EPA is completing an investigation of Shell's CEREX air quality monitoring system and is considering further enforcement action for failing to comply with Australian industry standards.

Shell acting refinery manager Alan Greaves said the refinery did took its environmental responsibilities seriously and had improved its performance in the last three years.

``We're also investing tens of millions of dollars on improvements to further protect our environment,'' Mr Greaves said.

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