A bold venture by a single drilling crew on a barren piece of Texas land in 1917 gave birth to Crown Central Petroleum, an independent petroleum marketer and refiner. The company moved into the limelight during World War II, when Crown Central pioneered a process to supply the military with 100 octane aviation fuel. Crown went on to become one of the first companies listed on the Curb Exchange, which was the predecessor of the American Stock Exchange. Since then, the company has grown into one of the nation's largest refiners.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Crown Central pumps oil through 17 terminals on major pipelines along the Gulf Coast, Central U.S., and the Eastern Seaboard. In addition to two high-conversion refineries in Texas, the company also owns a network of 350 gas stations and convenience stores in the mid-Atlantic and Southeastern states. Over the past few years, the company has also garnered its share of environmental worries, union disputes, and a slew of legal problems.

During the 1980s, Crown Central expanded its services by purchasing the Fast Fare and Zippy Mart convenience store chains, as well as the La Gloria Oil and Gas Company. Through La Gloria, the company's operations moved into the Eastern Seaboard and Central U.S. The company now operates about 375 service locations and pumps oil through 17 terminals on three major pipelines.

Crimes against the environment and humanity

In July 1997, the Sierra Club, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Texans United, and several local families filed suit against Crown, citing violations of the Clean Air Act, failure to report accidents, and failure to keep daily records of emissions at the company's Pasadena, TX refinery. Furthermore, the groups claim that the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) allowed the refiner to violate the law, and that the issue represented a case of environmental racism. The Pasadena facility is located in a largely low-income Latino neighborhood. In response to the case, the TNRCC proposed a penalty of $650,000, which would cover less than half of the normal penalties incurred for sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide emissions.

That August, after further pressure from environmental groups, the TNRCC fined Crown Central $1.06 million and required it to hire independent consultants to recommend methods for the reduction of sulfur emissions. Though that stands as the largest fine for emission violations in Texas history, critics say it only accounts for about a quarter of Crown's violations, and will not discourage the refiner from violating emissions restrictions in the future. Nevertheless, in December 1998, Crown invested about $20 million to upgrade and replace more than 1100 underground gas storage tanks, and up to $50,000 per site to clean the contaminated soil and water surrounding damaged tanks.

That month, Crown was treated to more legal action, in the form of a suit against Chief Executive Henry Rosenberg and several other high-level executives, claiming that their "gross mismanagement" of the company has led to its poor performance. The company has experienced losses in seven of the past eight years, and an 80% drop in stock prices since 1988. As a result, Crown has begun exploring "strategic alternatives," including the possible sale of all or part of the company. Then, in January 1999, the American Trading and Production company, Crown's largest shareholder, relinquished all of its stock in the company.

But wait! There's more!

What would an oil company be without a bit of racism and a labor dispute? Crown Central wouldn't know. For three years, the company has been involved in a major conflict with members of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW). As part of a union-busting attempt in February 1996, the company locked out OCAW members at its Pasadena refinery. After a 1998 investigation of the anti-union activities, Norway's Statoil announced that it would not work with Crown until the refiner reestablishes a working relationship with OCAW workers.

Also in 1998, a group of women and black employees filed a class-action discrimination suit against the company. More than 14 different organizations, including the NAACP, the Jewish Labor Committee, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and the Environmental Defense Fund backed them up by organizing a national boycott of the company. According to current and former Crown employees, "the employment situation at the company is abhorrent and makes the reported conditions at Texaco look mild in comparison."

Keeping it in the family