Western Refining Terminals LLC, a Marathon Petroleum subsidiary, is seeking a city permit amendment for its Albuquerque Products Terminal at 3209 Broadway Blvd. SE. The revised application would allow up to 15.36 additional tons of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) per year, according to nm.news. That is a proposed emissions allowance, not a measurement of what the terminal currently releases.
The request changed after the city identified an error in the tank calculations: the original July application omitted pi, making the tanks appear smaller. The company submitted a revision in October, raising the proposed annual increase from 13.77 to 15.36 tons, the outlet reported.
The application also proposes two diesel loading arms, allowing two diesel tanks to store gasoline, and using a temporary combustion unit to burn vapors during maintenance. It would revise fuel specifications related to red dye and vapor pressure and end butane blending at the loading rack, according to the report.
A dispute over what the limits mean
At an Oct. 28 South Valley meeting, residents raised concerns about the proposed operating changes and the higher emissions ceiling. Yasmin Khan, the Barelas Neighborhood Association’s land-use representative, said Marathon had disclosed plans to store year-round a volatile fuel typically used in colder climates, nm.news reported. Marathon told the outlet the changes would provide regional supply flexibility without increasing the terminal’s storage capacity. The company also said permit limits describe maximum potential releases, rather than emissions occurring continuously.
Those positions leave a key distinction for the permit review: a higher potential limit does not establish that actual emissions will rise by that amount, while the proposed ceiling alone does not show what the facility emits now. The available reporting does not resolve that question.
The public comment period closes Nov. 12. Residents can email comments to [email protected] or mail them to the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department’s Air Quality Program Permitting Division, P.O. Box 1293, Albuquerque, NM 87103, the report states. Residents seeking a hearing must submit a complete request form. The city will decide after the comment period whether there is both significant public interest and a significant air-quality issue; a hearing is not automatic.
What state air records can—and cannot—show
The New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau says it has no jurisdiction over Bernalillo County, where other organizations may monitor air. The bureau also says its emissions inventory excludes facilities in the county. That inventory therefore cannot establish an emissions trend at the Albuquerque terminal; the exclusion does not, by itself, say whether other local monitoring or records exist. New Mexico Environment Department monitoring information and its emissions-inventory explanation describe those limits.
A separate federal case offers historical context but is not evidence about this terminal’s permit or compliance. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that on June 9, 2016, it and the Justice Department announced a settlement requiring Marathon to install flare gas recovery systems at refineries in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan and Ohio. That was a refinery enforcement settlement in five other states—not an Albuquerque terminal permit amendment. EPA’s announcement does not establish that the current terminal has violated its permit.
