Arthur J. Morris Law Library 580 Massie Road University of Virginia Charlottesville, Virginia 22903 archives@law.virginia.edu URL: http://archives.law.virginia.edu/
Repository
Arthur J. Morris Law Library Special Collections
Identification
MSS.2012.04
Title
The Papers of Howard Klee re Amoco - U. S. EPA Pollution Prevention Project of Yorktown, Virginia 1988-1995
This collection of documents (1988-1995) reflects one of the earlier corporate and government efforts to prevent and reduce
pollution. It contains data collection and analysis, projects, budgets, maps, correspondence, interviews, drafts, reports
and photographs.
Howard Klee is currently a director of two programs for the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD): the
Cement Sustainability Initiative and Tire Industry Project.
Klee graduated from Williams College with a bachelor's degree in chemistry, and he went on to earn a Ph.D. in chemical engineering
from MIT.
During the years of the Amoco-U.S. EPA Pollution Prevention Project, Klee worked as a co-manager for Amoco. Following his
work at Amoco, Klee worked with Chevron and BP, serving both executive and business functions that involved strategic planning,
business development, environmental affairs, and manufacturing.
In addition, Klee served on President Clinton's Council on Sustainable Development, and he also worked as the director for
the Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment. In addition, Klee has experience in academia, holding faculty
appointments at the University of California-Davis, the University of Michigan, and the University of Geneva.
After the conclusion of the Amoco-EPA Pollution Prevention Project, Klee authored a number of texts related to the project,
and in 2012 BiblioGov published a book by the U.S. EPA related to the Yorktown project, which included many of Klee's findings.
*Biographical information cited from WBCSD website
In recent years, environmental regulation has come to the forefront with such cases as Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (2007) and Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker (2008). However, environmental regulation has a longer history in Virginia. In 1989, Amoco Oil Company (Amoco) and the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agreed to a voluntary, joint pollution-prevention project that would focus on Amoco's
refinery in Yorktown, Virginia. Yorktown was an especially exciting place to undertake this study, as it would provide the
opportunity to study pollution prevention at a working industrial facility. The Amoco-EPA project was one of the first of
its kind, combining efforts of a major oil company and the EPA to determine methods to reduce air, land, and water pollution
during the oil refinement process.
Over the course of nearly six years, a number of workgroups provided oversight and direction, as the project used a multi-media
sampling program to identify potential pollutions sources at the Amoco Refinery in Yorktown. The work groups' findings were
peer reviewed, and workshops were convened in which persons from various professional backgrounds met at the facility to conduct
research and provide input into the project. In addition, separate engineering projects identified the major sources of pollution,
and they later simulated the effects of implementing pollution-reduction measures. Engineers worked together to assess environmental
impacts, costs, risk reduction for people living near the facility, and any liability that could be incurred by the refinery.
A final executive summary issued by the project explained that it had hoped to accomplish a set of goals for pollution prevention:
the inventory of refinery releases, including their "chemical type, quantity, source, and medium of release"; the development
of various options to reduce those releases; the ranking of various options based on a set of criteria and professional perspectives;
the identification and evaluation of factors that inhibit pollution prevention in practice; and the enhancement of the "participants'
knowledge of refinery and regulatory systems." The accompanying data records the success of the project.
In addition to being one of the first projects to engage both corporate and government efforts to reduce pollution, it also
exhibited a nuanced multidisciplinary effort, involving participants from a variety of disciplines in the sciences and humanities,
as well as concerned members of the Yorktown community.
Howard Klee, one of Amoco's co-managers on the project, donated his collection of materials, including documents and photographs,
from his experience on this project. The collection reflects the multidisciplinary effort of the project, as it not only includes
scientific analyses and engineering reports, but also the executive summaries written across the years. The project is also
a visual one. Included in the collection are unique data maps of the refinery, as well as a set of photographs taken between
1989-1992 that reflect the work of the field scientists, engineers, and academic participants. Roundtable discussions featuring
locals affected by the refinery and potential pollution reduction are available on digital video (converted from their original
VHS formats), and local Virginia news reports surrounding the project are also available digitally. Finally, the collection
contains Klee's personal correspondence and handwritten notes throughout the various stages of the project.
Amoco/US EPA Pollution Prevention Project, Yorktown Refinery Project Workplan, Sept. 1990 [2 of 2]. [Project budget, appendencies
and maps, including site geology and hydrogeology, chemical protocols, sampling locations, plot plans, surface water samples,
solid waste samples, groundwater and soil samples].
Report of Observations: Thought Leader Interviews and Focus Groups, Yorktown Refinery Public Perception Study, Jan. 1991 [1
of 2]. [Summary, thought-leader interviews, focus groups, interview questionnaire, discussion guide, York County background,
appendix]
Groundwater and soil data, March 1991 [1 of 3]. [Summary (including maps and overhead projector slides), site description,
study approach, results, conclusions]
Report of the Peer Review Committee of the Amoco/EPA Pollution Prevention Project at the Yorktown, VA Refinery, November 19,
1991 - PEER REVIEW. [Background, Meeting 1 notes, Meeting 2 notes, Meeting 3 notes]
Measurement of Fixed Gases and Hydrocarbon Emissions Rates for the Blowdown Vents at the Amoco/Yorktown Refinery, November
1991. [Introduction, technical approach, measurements and results, conclusions, references, statistical/data tables with HK
notes]
Summary of Refinery Release Inventory (Final inventory) [2 of 2]. Subsurface sampling, solid waste sampling, public perception
study, multimedia assessment of releases, appendix (includes refiner map with all sampling locations)
Project Summary with HK notes, January 1992. HK notes re: project summary, refinery release inventory, options identification
and analysis, ranking method and results, obstacles and incentives, references, appendices
Air Quality Data Report, prepared by D.N. Blewitt, J.W. Keating, and J.F. John, July 30, 1992 [1 of 2]. Introduction, source
sampling, ambient measures, emission inventory, accuracy of the emission inventory for BTEX
Air Quality Data Report, prepared by D.N. Blewitt, J.W. Keating, and J.F. John, July 30, 1992 [2 of 2]. Exposure modeling,
conclusions, references, appendices and tables
Effective Environmental Strategies: Opportunities for Innovation and Flexibility Under Federal Environmental Laws [Draft written
June 1993]. Executive summary, research and analysis re: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery
Act, Multimedia implications, Toxic Substance Control Act, Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, Safe Drinking Water Act
Projects, Evaluations, and Rankings: Prepared for US EPA, Project Manager Dr. Mahesh Podar, July 1993 [1 of 2]. Executive
summary, project criteria selection (includes Williamsburg workshop alternatives), project characterization (technical characteristics,
cost factors, human health and ecological effects)
Projects, Evaluations, and Rankings: Prepared for US EPA, Project Manager Dr. Mahesh Podar, July 1993 [2 of 2]. Project ranking
(criterion ranking, methology for multi-criteria ranking, development of criteria weights, results of multi-criteria ranking,
conclusions), references, appendices
Effective Environmental Strategies: Opportunities for Innovation and Flexibility Under Federal Environmental Laws [Official].
HK notes and markup: executive summary, research and analysis re: Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, Multimedia implications, Toxic Substance Control Act, Pollution Prevention Act of 1990, Safe Drinking Water
Act
Correspondence and Draft Materials: Yearly Through 1993 [letters, presentations, news articles, report drafts with HK notes,
and statistical analyses with HK notes] [1 of 2]. Letters, presentations, news articles, report drafts with HK notes, and
statistical analyses with HK notes
Correspondence and Draft Materials: Yearly Through 1993 [letters, presentations, news articles, report drafts with HK notes,
and statistical analyses with HK notes] [2 of 2]. Letters, presentations, news articles, report drafts with HK notes, and
statistical analyses with HK notes
Amoco-EPA Pollution Prevention Project: Supplemental Report [1 of 2]. Post-project evaluation, blowdown stack emissions measurement,
refinery equipment fugitive emissions, evaluation of sediment in Bull Creek and the Settling Basins
Amoco-EPA Pollution Prevention Project: Supplemental Report [2 of 2]. Drinking water well surveys, vegetation and wildlife
inventory, references, appendices and data tables
An Environmental Partnership (VIDEO) (7:12 running time) [Discussion of impact of plant practices and regulation, the nature
of "environmental management," and presenting Yorktown as the example for the first time EPA looks at emissions at a real
factory; NTSC VHS, PAL VHS, and digitized video available]
Yorktown Residents (VIDEO) (16:41 running time) [roundtable discussion with Yorktown residents about the refinery, pollution,
and the impact of the Amoco-EPA study; digitized and NTSC VHA available]
WVEC & WTKR Yorktown News Footage: Amoco Rising Fuel Prices & Amoco and the EPA (VIDEO) [News footage discussion Amoco-EPA
study in local Yorktown news; digitized and NTSC VHS available]
Box of photograph slides. [Includes photographs of the Amoco Yorktown Refinary in Yorktown, Va., the geographic and natural
spaces around the refinery, scientists sampling areas around the refinery, discussion and roundtable meetings, and graphs/documents
related to the study]