ExxonMobil Corp. will pay $1.5 million in penalties for pollution violations at its Joliet refinery, the U.S. Justice Department announced Tuesday.

ExxonMobil also has agreed to make $10 million in improvements at the refinery, according to a news release from the Justice Department.

The agreement is an amendment to a 2005 Clean Air Act consent decree with the company to resolve violations at the petroleum refinery, which is known as the ExxonMobil Joliet Refinery but actually is located outside Joliet in Channahon Township.

“This new agreement requires ExxonMobil to clean up its act and pay penalties for its past violations,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division said in the release. “EPA and our Illinois state partner deserve credit for policing ExxonMobil’s compliance with the Clean Air Act and our prior settlement with the company.”

ExxonMobil will pay $1,515,463 in penalties of which $1,086,640 will go to the federal government and $428,823 to the state of Illinois.

The consent decree amendment will reduce air pollution through upgrades and address violations of the 2005 consent decree, the release said.

Physical and operational changes at the refinery’s sulfur recovery plant will reduce emissions of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide. The refinery also will meet a lower sulfur dioxide emission limit at its north sulfur recovery unit,” the release said.

The refinery also will make changes to emission controls at its fluidized catalytic cracking unit to meet lower emission limits for sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

ExxonMobil also will also address violations in leak detection and repair by updating procedures for monitoring valves that are covered in insulation or located inside fireboxes. ExxonMobil will use an optical gas imaging camera to monitor its open-ended lines for leaks. The refinery will develop a plan to address violations in its emissions monitoring system, the release said.

The settlement was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. It will be subject to a 30-day public comment period after notice is published in the Federal Register. People can view the consent decree amendment or submit comment by visiting the Justice Department’s website at www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

More information about the 2005 consent decree and the consent decree amendment also is available at https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/exxonmobil-refinery-settlement.

This is a developing story. Check for updates.