RIN fraud places unfair burdens on refiners, say refiner trade groups
In Maryland, Timothy Wheeler of The Baltimore Sun reports that biodiesel producers told a congressional panel on Wednesday “they’re struggling to stay afloat in the aftermath of fraud cases uncovered in Baltimore and Texas.”
A spokesman for the petroleum refiners association blamed the Environmental Protection Agency for slow response to a crisis he said has cost the industry $200 million so far. Under the renewable-fuel program, petroleum refiners are required to either make a certain amount of biodiesel themselves or support its production by buying credits representing the renewable fuel.
Thomas Paquin, president of VicNRG, a Texas-based marketer and distributor of biofuels, estimated that 85 percent of the nation’s biodiesel companies are struggling to keep their doors open because 10 percent to 20 percent of the credits sold last year are now considered invalid. He noted that in 2010 his company reported to the EPA that Clean Green Fuel was not actually producing biodiesel after sending someone to Baltimore to check it out.
Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel and Petroleum Manufacturers, faulted the EPA for allowing refiners to continue to buy phony credits while its investigation proceeded. He said federal officials are now punishing the victims of the fraud by forcing them to buy replacement fuel credits, which now cost many times what they did originally.
Category: Fuels
