Item 1. Legal Proceedings
Item 1. Legal Proceedings
The 2021 Form 10-K, filed on March 2, 2022, contained a description of various legal proceedings in which we are involved, including environmental proceedings. See below and Note 12 to the unaudited consolidated financial statements within this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for a discussion on legal proceedings, which information is incorporated by reference herein.
Under the Omnibus Agreement, Westlake Corporation ("Westlake") has agreed to indemnify the Partnership for certain environmental and other liabilities relating to OpCo's processing facilities and related assets that occurred or existed prior to August 4, 2014.
Potential Flare Modifications . For several years, the Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") has been conducting an enforcement initiative against petroleum refineries and petrochemical plants with respect to emissions from flares. On April 21, 2014, Westlake received a Clean Air Act Section 114 Information Request from the EPA, which sought information regarding flares at the Calvert City and Lake Charles facilities. The EPA notified Westlake that it believes that some of the flares are out of compliance with applicable standards. In June 2022, the Department of Justice announced that Westlake, the EPA and state environmental agencies had reached agreement on a consent decree resolving this matter. The consent decree requires Westlake to install flare gas recovery units, implement fence line monitoring, install and operate flare monitoring and control equipment to meet certain performance standards, and pay a penalty of $1 million. Implementation of the requirements under the decree is estimated to cost approximately $110 million, which includes capital expenditures associated with installation of the flare gas recovery units we are required to install at our Calvert City and Lake Charles facilities. The capital expenditures and other costs required to comply with the consent decree have either been incurred in 2021 or will be incurred over the course of 2022 and 2023. The 30-day federal public comment period for the consent decree has concluded, and the public comment period for the state processes are still open. Following the completion of all the comment periods, and the court enters the consent decree, it will become effective. As discussed above, Westlake is expected to fully indemnify us for such costs.
Flash Fire at Petro 2 . There are lawsuits pending in connection with the flash fire at the quench tower that occurred in September 2021 during the Petro 2 turnaround, which are described in Note 12 to the consolidated financial statements included in Item 1 of this Form 10-Q. We expect insurance to cover most of the costs associated with these lawsuits .
In addition to the matters described above, the Partnership is also involved in other legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of its business. The Partnership does not believe that any of these legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
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