Exxon Mobil slapped with $6.1M fine

WASHINGTON - December 17, 2008 - The Justice Department announced Wednesday that it demanded the fine because Exxon Mobil had violated a 2005 consent agreement by not adequately controlling smokestack sulfur emissions at the refineries as it had promised to do.

Assistant Attorney General Ronald Tenpas said "the department will not tolerate violation of our consent decrees." Under that settlement, Exxon Mobil in 2005 paid $7.7 million in civil penalties, and performed $6.7 million worth of environment-related community projects.

The refineries are in Beaumont and Baytown, Texas; Torrance, Calif., and Baton Rouge, La.