SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : Ultramar Agrees to Cut Pollution

The California environmental group Communities for a Better Environment on Thursday announced a settlement with one of several oil companies the group sued in federal court two years ago.

Ultramar, which has a refinery in Wilmington, has agreed to several measures to reduce pollution there, a spokesman for the environmental group said. They include reducing emissions by 95% when loading oil tankers, not using auto scrapping activities to earn credits toward its pollution allowance, installing $400,000 in new equipment to reduce or eliminate pollution at the refinery, and donating $100,000 to local nonprofit organizations.

The Ultramar settlement stemmed from a July 1997 suit that attacked so-called pollution trading, the practice by which a company earns credit for cleanup projects that in turn allows it some slack in meeting environmental standards in other areas. Contending that the pollution trading strategy violates the civil rights of residents in low-income, minority communities, the group sued five oil companies and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which pioneered the program.

The suit against the air quality district, a major component of the case, remains unresolved. But group leaders hailed the Ultramar settlement as a “real victory for the communities living near oil refineries.”

Also sued were Chevron, Tosco, Unocal and GATX. An attorney for the environmental group said Tosco and GATX settled earlier and the action against Unocal is on hold.