35 unlicensed refineries closed

The Higher Committee for Environmental Protection (HCEP) in Riyadh has closed down 35 unlicensed facilities for oil-refining in the Riyadh region with the participation of Civil Defense teams, citing the negative impact of waste on the environment, in addition to violating regulations.
HCEP also granted a grace period of up to three months to other factories in the Al-Sally district to halt irregularities contrary to licensing requirements.
According to the committee, the monitoring team inspected these installations and discovered a series of irregularities, notably air pollution, as a result of emissions from oil-refining, a lack of regular licenses and production of hazardous waste by using primitive techniques for refining oil.
The violators also did not dispose of the waste safely, discharging petroleum products in the sewerage network.
In light of this, the 10th meeting of the HCER, headed by Riyadh Gov. Prince Khalid bin Bandar, has taken certain decisions, which include granting a two-year grace period to move to locations within industrial cities.
The commission also stressed the importance of using modern technology for processing and refining oil, as per the requirements of the General Presidency of Meteorology and Environment Protection (GPMEP), activate the program to get rid of oil and petroleum derivatives waste and conduct studies to confine the problem and propose appropriate solutions.
It called on the electricity company to impose penalties on violators by discontinuing power supplies. The Ministry of Trade and Industry has been urged to stop business registration for establishments in violation.
It also called on the Supreme Committee of the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources to follow up on the issues associated with plants refining oil and petroleum derivatives, and the Riyadh Municipality to invite real estate owners in violation and notify them of their obligation end unauthorized leases.
According to sources, the HCEP has completed an inventory of establishments that refine waste-oil within municipalities, namely Al-Shifa, Al-Haer, Al-Azizia and Al-Sally.