Chevron yesterday agreed to pay a record $7 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the feds, which claimed that the oil giant had violated the Clean Air Act at an offshore oil terminal near El Segundo, Calif. The company will pay a $6 million fine, the highest ever for a single facility, make $500,000 in environmental improvements at the facility, and pay an additional $500,000 to help build a health clinic to treat respiratory diseases. Last month, the company settled a related lawsuit filed by an environmental group. The cases involved a Southern California pollution-credit trading program that allows oil companies to destroy old, polluting cars rather than install expensive pollution-reduction equipment. The U.S. EPA, never a fan of the program, said Chevron had taken advantage of it to avoid making improvements to its facility.
