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Federal Government Reaches Agreement To Improve Detroit Air Quality

Wikipedia Media Commons

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Justice Department say an agreement has been reached with Marathon Petroleum to reduce air pollution from a Detroit refinery.  

The EPA says Thursday that the deal also calls for reductions in air pollution from refineries in four other states outside Michigan.

Marathon will spend about $6 million to shut down a flare at the Detroit refinery's fence line.  Marathon says Thursday that it will build piping to safely shut down the flare.  Flares are mechanical devices -- ordinarily elevated -- that are used to combust waste gases.

The company also will spend $36 million to install systems that capture and recycle gases that otherwise would be sent to flares.

Marathon will spend another $283 million at facilities in Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio. 

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