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Clean Water Act discharge permit · NPDES TX0002976

HOUSTON REFINERY, Houston, TX: NPDES TX0002976 discharge permit, effluent exceedances, inspections, penalties

HOUSTON REFINERY, held by VALERO REFINING TEXAS LP, holds NPDES permit TX0002976, which discharges to Houston Ship Channel/Buffalo Bayou. EPA’s file records it issued January 6, 2020 and expiring January 6, 2023. The status and dates are as EPA’s permit file stood when Velarion loaded it (October 14, 2026); EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO carries the permit’s current standing.

Identity

Facility as filedHOUSTON REFINERY
Permittee as filedVALERO REFINING TEXAS LP
NPDES IDTX0002976
Permit statusAdministratively continued (past its expiration date and still in force until reissued)
Permit typeIndividual permit
Discharger classMajor discharger
Facility typeNot a publicly owned treatment works
IssuedJanuary 6, 2020
Expiration dateJanuary 6, 2023
AddressHouston, TX 77012
Receiving waterHOUSTON SHIP CHANNEL/BUFFALO BAYOU
Receiving water impaired303(D) Listed
SubwatershedLower Sims Bayou (HUC 120401040502)
SIC2911 – Petroleum Refining
Other EPA IDs (FRS)RCRA handler TXR000083882; ICIS-AIR source TX0000004820100065

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES permit file (ECHO download) and EPA’s NAICS/SIC and component files, the same download; cross-program IDs from EPA’s FRS facility-registry crosswalk.

Effluent limits and exceedances

An effluent exceedance is a discharge monitoring report value over the permit’s numeric limit (EPA’s violation code E90). A violation of any kind also counts a report not filed. Each row is EPA’s own count for that pollutant.

Pollutant or measureLimitsViolations, any kindEffluent exceedancesLatest exceedanceLargest exceedance, as filed
Cyanide, free [amenable to chlorination]23323January 31, 2021328% over the limit
pH14417January 31, 2009
Oxygen demand, chem. [high level] [COD]8235April 30, 2025434% over the limit
Solids, total suspended293January 31, 202512% over the limit
Oil & Grease8202January 31, 2025213% over the limit
Nitrogen, ammonia total [as N]271August 31, 200615% over the limit
Flow, in conduit or thru treatment plant14430
LOEC Lethal Survival Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (formerly Mysidopsis bahia)2180
LOEC Lethal Survival Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2180
LOEC Sub-Lethal Reproduction Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (Mysidopsis bahia)2180
LOEC Sub-Lethal Reproduction Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2180
BOD, carbonaceous [5 day, 20 C]2120
Pass/Fail Sub-Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (formerly Mysidopsis bahia)2120
Pass/Fail Sub-Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2120
Low Flow Pass/Fail Survival Test Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (Mysidopsis bahia)2100
Low Flow Pass/Fail Survival Test Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2100
NOEC Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (formerly Mysidopsis bahia)2100
NOEC Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2100
NOEC Sub-Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Americamysis bahia (formerly Mysidopsis bahia)2100
NOEC Sub-Lethal Static Renewal 7 Day Chronic Menidia menidia2100
Sulfide, total [as S]280
Chromium, hexavalent [as Cr]280
Chromium, total [as Cr]260
Zinc, total [as Zn]260
Phenols260
Whole effluent toxicity - retest #1350
Whole effluent toxicity - retest #2350
Temperature, water deg. fahrenheit130
pH range excursions, > 60 minutes130
pH range excursions, monthly total accum130
LC50 Pass/Fail Static 24Hr Acute Americamysis bahia (formerly Mysidopsis bahia)130
LC50 Pass/Fail Static 24Hr Acute Menidia menidia130

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES limits and effluent violations files (ECHO download); up to 60 rows shown, most exceedances first.

Inspections, violations and enforcement

DateWhat EPA recordedAgency
August 6, 2024Permit Violations - Violation Specified in CommentST6

Velarion’s copy of EPA’s ICIS-NPDES files does not include the inspections, formal enforcement actions and informal enforcement actions files, so this page shows none of them. EPA’s free Detailed Facility Report on ECHO lists this permit’s inspections, enforcement actions and penalties.

Cited to the EPA ICIS-NPDES violation, inspection and enforcement files (ECHO download); up to 50 rows of each shown, newest first.

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EPA publishes a free Detailed Facility Report for every permit on ECHO: its compliance status quarter by quarter, its inspections, and its enforcement actions and penalties. EPA also sends free notices of new inspections and enforcement actions through ECHO Notify; enter NPDES ID TX0002976 there.

Nearby on the register

Figures from EPA’s ICIS-NPDES download, loaded October 14, 2026.

What this page shows

This page covers NPDES permit TX0002976 for the HOUSTON REFINERY in Houston, TX, held by VALERO REFINING TEXAS LP, with a status of administratively continued and a discharger class of Major Discharger. The facts list 6 pollutants under a numeric limit and 6 pollutants with an effluent exceedance, with the permit recorded as issued January 6, 2020 and expiring January 6, 2023.