ExxonMobil agrees to install pollution controls

Oil giant ExxonMobil will spend approximately $300 million (£226 million) to eliminate thousands of tons of air pollution from eight of its petrochemical manufacturing facilities in Texas and Louisiana, US, under a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

The agreement – reached between ExxonMobil, DOJ, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Louisiana department of environmental quality – resolves allegations that the corporation violated the Clean Air Act by failing to properly operate and monitor industrial flares at its chemical plants. This resulted in excessive and unlawful emissions of chemicals linked to cancer and smog at the ExxonMobil facilities.