PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • July 4, 2020
South Portland officials are seeking a tougher federal crackdown on Sprague Resources LP for air pollution from heated petroleum storage tanks at its facilities in South Portland, Searsport and five other New England cities. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency filed a lawsuit against Sprague in May, along with a proposed settlement that would require the company to properly license and take steps to reduce odors and emissions of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, from heated tanks storing No. 6 heavy residual fuel oil and asphalt. The city is challenging several aspects of the proposed settlement, including how Sprague’s facilities would be monitored and licensed in the future and why the company wouldn’t be required to pay penalties to South Portland or the state of Maine.