Social Responsibility
Salt Lake City Refinery

In 2004, Tesoro commissioned a modern and environmentally beneficial cogeneration project that utilizes natural gas to produce multiple sources of energy. Cogeneration is an energy efficient and clean-burning process that utilizes gas turbines to generate electricity. The waste heat from the generation process is used to produce steam that, in turn, is put to use at the refinery to produce gasoline and other products. Altogether, the clean-operating new cogeneration facility reduces air emissions from the refinery by more than 500 tons per year.

When Tesoro began constructing the cogeneration unit in 2003, the refinery’s environmental department contacted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine if approximately one-half acre of the construction site was considered a jurisdictional wetland. The Corps determined that it was indeed a jurisdictional wetland because, for a brief time in the spring, there was connectivity between the area and a major body of water (the Great Salt Lake). The Corps decided Tesoro could clear the area if we purchased an “offset,” or other wetlands to make up for the wetland we were removing. We were required to purchase one acre of wetland to replace the one-half acre of wetland we were going to clear.

To accomplish this, we met with the Nature Conservancy, who operates a wetland preserve in the area. Tesoro made a donation to the Nature Conservancy of $12,750 for them to purchase an acre of land to add to the preserve. The end result of this initiative was a win-win situation, whereby Tesoro was able to use the low-quality wetland area within its refinery and the community received an additional acre of high-quality wetlands inside an established preserve.

In addition, the Tesoro refinery is an active participant in the Salt Lake City Green Team. This community group, which was organized by the Salt Lake City mayor, looks at long-term ways to protect the environment within the city and make Salt Lake a more sustainable community.