Clearing the Air

ConocoPhillips of Houston will pay fines of $4.5 million and spend $525 million upgrading nine refineries in seven states to comply with the Clean Air Act. The company settled a complaint with the Justice Department that will remove 47,000 tons of harmful emissions from America's air. The refineries involved amount to about 10% of those in the US. The settlement comes amid growing complaints that the Justice Department has been letting refiners miss clean up deadlines. (NYT)