Mercuria CSR Report 2021 - Flipbook - Page 67
2021 Corporate Social Responsibility
To date we have been successful in managing our operations such that there has been no instance
where we were forced to suspend operations due to COVID-19 related issues, nor were there any
circumstances of illness that we understood to originate from within our workplaces.
In some areas of our business we did encounter substantial challenges in coordinating staffing as
a result of regional lockdowns and similar restrictions on people’s movement, and are appreciative
of the accommodations made by all parties (our employees, contractors, business partners and
government authorities) as we navigated through these challenges. We are similarly appreciative
of our employees who quickly adapted to new remote working practices necessary during the
pandemic.
We continue to support our employees with guidance to avoid becoming ill or spreading the disease to
others, testing for potential infection and encouraging our staff to become vaccinated. While it appears
to us that some of the most worrisome periods of the pandemic may have passed, we continue to
monitor and appropriately comply with the recommendations of regional health authorities.
In regard to the environment, we had two instances where our operations had release events to the
environment that also triggered involvement of authorities with state, federal or national jurisdictional
oversight. Both of these events involved discharges which were not otherwise authorized or permitted,
and which our operators initially identified and appropriately notified to authorities.
Consistent with our procedures our operators took immediate measures with concern first to safety
and then to rectify the source of the releases, followed by implementation remedial efforts appropriate
to mitigate damage.
Subsequent investigation was conducted into the causes for these events such that appropriate
preventative measures could be implemented. We engaged with the authorities having jurisdictional
oversight and in both instances have concluded that no additional remedial actions were needed.
During 2021 we did pay a fine of $17,900 as part of a settlement concerning some historic issues of noncompliance. We regret the circumstances leading to those improper operations and believe appropriate
measures have been taken to guard against their recurrence. In working with the authorities to reach
settlement there was agreement that the matters were fully resolved with no other restrictions or
covenants placed upon our business.
For clarity we are reporting here only those penalties we paid directly to state, federal or national
authorities during the reporting period for violations assessed relative to health, safety or
environmental aspects of our business, and apart from taxes or other regular fees that might also be
paid to these authorities. This also does not include other potentially related expenses incurred as
part of repairs or corrective work, or amounts that might be paid to local agencies, counterparties or
service providers.
CALENDAR YEAR
NUMBER OF RELESE EVENTS
REQUIRING NOTIFICATION TO
REGULATORY AUTHORITIES*
PENALTIES PAID TO STATE FEDERAL
OR NATIONAL AUTHORITIES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE WITH ENVIRONMENTAL
OR REGULATORY STANDARDS
2019
2 events
None reported
2020
6 events
None reported
2021
2 events
17,900 USD
*Exclusive of any spill events where another party had primary responsibility for the event or where notification was given
to state federal or national authorities as a courtesy - but was not required.
67
