HOLLYFRONTIER EL DORADO REFINING

HollyFrontier El Dorado Refining LLC operates a single petroleum refinery at El Dorado, Kansas (EPA facility ID 110000446134), now a subsidiary of HF Sinclair Corporation following the March 2022 combination of HollyFrontier and The Sinclair Companies. EPA ECHO data as of May 4, 2026 records three quarters with noncompliance over the trailing 24 months and a derived penalty total of $2,905,103 apportioned from five-year assessed penalties [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The facility carries no active permits in the ECHO extract, with the latest permit action dated November 6, 2025 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. A worker fatality from a refinery fire was reported in the trailing 12 months [source: https://powerplantsinfo.org/plant/58075-el-dorado-refinery].

The El Dorado site carries a documented federal enforcement record that predates the current 24-month window by several years. In May 2020, the United States and the State of Kansas filed a complaint and consent decree in U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas — Case 2:20-cv-02270 — resolving alleged Clean Air Act violations for a $4 million civil penalty plus injunctive relief [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=] [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/hollyfrontier-inc-settlement-information-sheet]. A second EPA action, announced June 21, 2022, added a $1.6 million penalty for CAA process-safety and chemical accident prevention allegations traced to a 2014 inspection [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/hollyfrontier-oil-refinery-el-dorado-kansas-pay-16m-alleged-clean-air-act-violations]. The refining subsidiary is not a separate public registrant. HF Sinclair (NYSE: DINO) reported Q1 2026 net earnings of approximately $648 million, consolidating El Dorado within its broader refining segment [source: https://ecoportal.net/economia-2/hf-sinclair-reporta-ganancias-trimes].

The El Dorado refinery sits within one of the most refinery-dense corridors of the Midwest and has been subject to overlapping federal and state Clean Air Act oversight for more than a decade [source: https://crmsrail.com/locations/el-dorado]. EPA Region 7 and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) have jointly pursued compliance matters at the site since at least 2014, producing two distinct settlements that together defined the compliance posture carried into the present 24-month window [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/hollyfrontier-inc-settlement-information-sheet] [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/hollyfrontier-oil-refinery-el-dorado-kansas-pay-16m-alleged-clean-air-act-violations].

The chronology of the past 24 months, assembled from public records, begins with the facility still operating under the injunctive-relief terms of the May 28, 2020 consent decree filed in Case 2:20-cv-02270. That decree required installation and operation of specified pollution controls, flare management improvements, fuel-gas H2S monitoring, and chemical accident prevention upgrades [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=]. ECHO's quarterly noncompliance flags translate into the reported three-quarter exceedance count. EPA's derivation methodology apportions 24/60 of the five-year assessed penalty, producing the $2,905,103 figure [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Then, in March 2026, a fatal fire at the refinery was reported in trade press — an incident that falls within OSHA Process Safety Management and EPA Risk Management Program jurisdiction, given the 2020 consent decree's chemical accident prevention provisions [source: https://powerplantsinfo.org/plant/58075-el-dorado-refinery] [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280071/dl]. The latest permit-related date logged in ECHO is November 6, 2025 [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

Corporate structure during the review window also shifted the reporting perimeter. HollyFrontier Corporation combined with Sinclair in March 2022 to form HF Sinclair Corporation (NYSE: DINO), which now consolidates El Dorado within its refining segment alongside facilities in Tulsa, Cheyenne, Artesia/Navajo, Woods Cross, Parco, and Casper [source: https://portersfiveforce.com/blogs/brief-history/hfsinclair]. HF Sinclair's Q1 2026 earnings disclosure reported approximately $648 million in quarterly earnings, emphasizing refining and renewable fuel operations [source: https://ecoportal.net/economia-2/hf-sinclair-reporta-ganancias-trimes] [source: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/energy/articles/hf-sinclair-corporation-q1-2026-204840526.html]. The El Dorado LLC is not a separate SEC registrant; consolidated 10-K and 10-Q disclosures flow through HF Sinclair. Third-party aggregator Violation Tracker lists the $4,000,000 CAA penalty in its 2020 record line for the entity [source: https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/violation-tracker/ks-hollyfrontier-el-dorado-refining-llc].

Action 1 — 2020 Federal/State CAA Consent Decree. Plaintiffs: United States of America and the State of Kansas ex rel. KDHE. Defendant: HollyFrontier El Dorado Refining LLC, f/k/a Frontier El Dorado Refining LLC. Venue: U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, Civil Action No. 2:20-cv-2270. Filed May 28, 2020. Programs: Clean Air Act Sections 112(r), NSPS, NESHAP; Kansas Air Quality Act. Allegations centered on repeated violations of visible smoke emission limits at the main refinery flare, H2S fuel-gas limit exceedances, failure to monitor for H2S, failure to apply good air pollution control practices resulting in SO2 releases, and failure to comply with chemical accident prevention requirements — including equipment inspection and testing deficiencies and uncorrected equipment defects [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280071/dl] [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/hollyfrontier-inc-settlement-information-sheet]. Outcome: $4,000,000 civil penalty plus injunctive relief requiring flare gas recovery and management upgrades, H2S monitoring, and RMP-program remediation per the 82-page decree [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=] [source: https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/violation-tracker/ks-hollyfrontier-el-dorado-refining-llc].

Action 2 — 2022 EPA CAA Administrative Settlement. Announced June 21, 2022 by EPA Region 7. Program: Clean Air Act Section 112(r) General Duty Clause and Risk Management Program. The allegations originated in a 2014 EPA inspection and centered on failure to evaluate hazards and compile process safety information at the refinery [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/hollyfrontier-oil-refinery-el-dorado-kansas-pay-16m-alleged-clean-air-act-violations]. Outcome: $1,600,000 civil penalty. EPA Region 7 Administrator Meg McCollister stated the conduct presented "a significant risk to its workers and the surrounding El Dorado community" [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/hollyfrontier-oil-refinery-el-dorado-kansas-pay-16m-alleged-clean-air-act-violations] [source: https://www.kansas.com/news/local/article262738052.html].

Action 3 — Trailing 24-month ECHO quarterly noncompliance. EPA ECHO records three quarters with noncompliance flags within the May 2024–May 2026 window, yielding a derived apportioned penalty total of $2,905,103.20 using the exporter's standard 24/60 allocation of five-year assessed penalties [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. Specific program-level violation narratives for those quarters are not individually enumerated in the ECHO summary extract; the underlying quarterly detail resides in ECHO's facility detail page for FRS ID 110000446134. A March 2026 refinery fire resulting in a worker fatality was reported in trade press and is expected to trigger OSHA and potentially EPA RMP review [source: https://powerplantsinfo.org/plant/58075-el-dorado-refinery].

HollyFrontier El Dorado Refining LLC — El Dorado, Butler County, Kansas (FRS ID 110000446134). The site is the sole facility operated under this LLC. ECHO records one facility, three quarters of noncompliance in 24 months, and a derived $2.9 million penalty apportionment [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The refinery operates under the May 28, 2020 consent decree in Case 2:20-cv-2270 (D. Kan.), which governs flare operations, H2S in fuel gas, SO2 emissions, and RMP compliance [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=]. A fire at the refinery in March 2026 killed a worker [source: https://powerplantsinfo.org/plant/58075-el-dorado-refinery]. The EJ index average in the ECHO summary is reported as 0.0, which reflects the absence of the demographic overlay in this export rather than an affirmative finding of zero EJ exposure; ECHO's EJScreen layer must be queried directly for block-group level indices around the El Dorado site [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

The facility is a legacy Frontier Oil asset brought into HollyFrontier through the 2011 all-stock merger and subsequently into HF Sinclair via the March 2022 Sinclair combination. In 2015, newly constructed naphtha fractionation and hydrogen generation units at the site were sold to Holly Energy Partners in a drop-down transaction [source: https://portersfiveforce.com/blogs/brief-history/hfsinclair] [source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/48039/000004803915000057/eldoradopressreleasefinal.htm]. GHG reporting for the site is tracked under EPA GHGRP facility ID 1004291 [source: https://datacommons.org/browser/epaGhgrpFacilityId/1004291]. Because the company operates a single facility under this legal entity, no top-five ranking is applicable; all violation, penalty, and incident data in this briefing pertain to the El Dorado site.

The ECHO summary provided does not enumerate a top-pollutant list for the 24-month window, reporting an empty top_pollutants array [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. The pollutant profile must therefore be reconstructed from the underlying consent decree and EPA settlement sheet, which identify three principal air contaminants of concern at the El Dorado refinery.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2). EPA alleged that H2S limit exceedances in refinery fuel gas, combined with failure to apply good air pollution control practices, resulted in SO2 releases from combustion devices [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/hollyfrontier-inc-settlement-information-sheet]. SO2 is a criteria pollutant under the Clean Air Act NAAQS framework. Short-term exposure is associated with bronchoconstriction and respiratory symptoms. Inhalation within the downwind plume footprint of the refinery's stacks and flares is the dominant exposure pathway [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280071/dl].

Particulate matter (PM). The EPA settlement sheet specifies that visible smoke emissions from the refinery's main flare released "potentially harmful particulate matter" [source: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/hollyfrontier-inc-settlement-information-sheet]. Fine PM is linked in EPA criteria documents to cardiovascular and respiratory morbidity. Inhalation and deposition are the primary exposure pathways for communities within several kilometers of the source.

Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and reduced sulfur compounds. The consent decree addresses H2S in fuel gas both as a direct hazardous air pollutant exposure risk and as an SO2 precursor upon combustion [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=]. Community exposure implications center on the Butler County residential population adjacent to the refinery fence line. The ECHO ej_index_avg field returned 0.0 in this extract, yet EPA Region 7's June 2022 statement expressly framed the conduct as a risk to "the surrounding El Dorado community" [source: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/hollyfrontier-oil-refinery-el-dorado-kansas-pay-16m-alleged-clean-air-act-violations].

Within the NAICS 324110/324199 peer set compiled from ECHO, HollyFrontier El Dorado ranks third of three on both metrics: three noncompliance quarters versus eight at EES Coke Battery and eight at Artesia Refinery, and a derived 24-month penalty of $2.9 million versus $40.3 million and $13.6 million respectively [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip]. One detail sharpens the parent-level picture. Artesia Refinery is a sister asset within the HF Sinclair refining fleet, meaning the parent corporation appears twice in the top three of the petroleum-refining NAICS peer table on the 24-month penalty measure [source: https://portersfiveforce.com/blogs/brief-history/hfsinclair]. The EJ index average is reported as 0.0 for all three entities, reflecting the absence of the demographic overlay in this extract rather than an affirmative finding of zero EJ exposure [source: https://echo.epa.gov/files/echodownloads/echo_exporter.zip].

The research bundle did not include a populated SEC 10-K Item 1A or 10-Q environmental disclosure for HollyFrontier El Dorado Refining LLC or its parent HF Sinclair Corporation; the provided SEC payload was empty. Forward-looking environmental risk for the El Dorado site is most directly evidenced by two data points. The unexpired injunctive-relief provisions of the May 28, 2020 consent decree in Case 2:20-cv-02270 (D. Kan.) impose ongoing flare-management, H2S fuel-gas monitoring, SO2 minimization, and RMP compliance obligations subject to stipulated penalties [source: https://www.justice.gov/enrd/consent-decree/file/1280076/dl?inline=]. The March 2026 fatal fire falls within the scope of OSHA Process Safety Management and EPA RMP oversight [source: https://powerplantsinfo.org/plant/58075-el-dorado-refinery]. HF Sinclair's corporate-level SEC filings on EDGAR should be consulted for the current Item 1A environmental risk factor set [source: https://content.edgar-online.com/ExternalLink/EDGAR/0001193125-15-364338.html?hash=82a115b5339298e1d7b58479ae6cc15c801feaf101b605bf278f71089c1e15a4&dest=d36860dex102_htm].