“We’re here for the long run, so we’re going to do it right.”
Shannon Olsen
Environmental Director
Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend Refinery
Air Quality
We make progress on
protecting clean air
The U.S. fuel and petrochemical manufacturing industry is committed to protecting our communities by proactively monitoring air quality around our refineries and petrochemical facilities. We use a variety of air-monitoring devices to detect pollutants in real-time, so we can respond to situations before they become problematic. We also use sensor data to analyze long-term trends in air quality, which allows our facilities to validate that they are minimizing emissions and protecting air quality. Together, these efforts ensure we maintain responsible operations that keep the air safe for our neighbors and communities.
The Spotlight
Our Sensor Networks Keep Communities Safe
Sophisticated sensors monitor air quality around refinery fencelines, detecting minuscule emissions so we can proactively ensure our operations don’t diminish air quality.
Real-Time
Monitoring
A single refinery may deploy hundreds of sensors and monitoring devices within and on the facility’s fenceline to continuously monitor air quality. These sensors can detect tiny amounts of volatile organic compounds, so we can pinpoint where pollutants are elevated near the refinery.
Our employees analyze this information, together with meteorological data, so we can identify changes quickly and take immediate action to prevent problems. This real-time analysis also enables us to notify nearby communities quickly if pollutants exceed safe levels.
“We want to be good stewards of the area to ensure the air here is just as good as everywhere else.”
Environmental Director,
Flint Hills Resources Pine Bend Refinery
Community and
Regulatory Reporting
Transparency is an essential part of our commitment to communities. We provide quarterly reports to help residents understand their air quality in comparison with other areas. We also report our monitoring data to the EPA’s Compliance and Emissions Data Reporting Interface (CEDRI), which is publicly accessible. We work closely with the agency to develop best practices around monitoring and reporting and to ensure we meet or exceed every industry standard and regulation.