IPCA needs you.
We are a group of petroleum and petrochemical industry professionals who are concerned about the slow progress towards clean air in the Houston region. We are enlisting like-minded individuals who can offer their expertise in plant operations, economics, design and environmental controls. Here are several reasons you should join IPCA in serving as catalysts for changing the way industry, regulators and citizens approach our serious air pollution problems.

Standards must be established and enforced.
It has been more than three decades since the US Environmental Protection Agency was tasked with cleaning up Houston’s air pollution, and today our air quality is still unacceptable—by some measures it is the worst in the nation. Much of this pollution stems from the vast petrochemical complex located around the Houston Ship Channel. We share the concerns of many Houston-area residents that our air quality regulations are inadequately enforced, and, in some instances, insufficient.

Solutions can be found.
We think there are technically and economically feasible improvements that must be implemented by Houston area industry to meet federal air quality standards on time and to address the concerns of nearby residents about toxic air pollutants implicated as carcinogens or other health risks. We also believe that the authorities must implement more stringent—but even-handed—enforcement. In addition, we think there are areas where existing and planned regulations may be inadequate and should be replaced with well-researched new regulations.

We can play a unique role.
As professionals working with the companies that cause the greater part of Houston’s pollution, we can champion real communication and cooperation on reducing harmful emissions from industrial plants. We will put our expertise to work in identifying technically sound and economically feasible alternatives, and cost-effective tradeoffs. We will advocate these alternatives through well-reasoned discussion with regulatory and enforcement authorities, as well as with industry management.

We are already making a difference.
In May of 2005, IPCA submitted a report on emissions from industrial flares (PDF) to the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. One of the primary findings was that emissions from flares are actually much greater than reported due to inefficient or incomplete burning. That research is already having a significant impact on the agencies’ development of a clean air plan for Houston.

In June of 2006, IPCA presented its findings on flares to the Air and Waste Management Association (paper, presentation). This paper updates our 2005 report with additional data.

In May of 2009 IPCA released a research paper on the little known and seldom acknowledged emission challenges presented by delayed cokers at refining facilities. As traditional crude stocks deplete and the world turns more towards heavier sources such as Canadian tar sands, we are likely to see more such delayed cokers installed and operating across Texas and the United States. Delayed cokers and their emissions, however, have arguably never received the level of policy and research attention that they merit. This report gives a brief technical introduction to cokers, reviews the slim amount of technical research regarding their emissions and makes several key recommendations for how the state of Texas and the EPA can begin to more adequately control coker emissions.

Please join IPCA today by filling out our membership form (PDF).
If you need more information or if you would like to be added to our e-mail list, contact IPCA.

Thanks for your support.