![Suncor successfully secures Colorado permit with stricter regulations Suncor successfully secures Colorado permit with stricter regulations](https://i0.wp.com/newspack-coloradosun.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/suncor-plant-reopen-os-18.jpg?fit=2497%2C1665&quality=70&ssl=1)
Colorado air quality regulators on Thursday issued a renewed operating permit for two of Suncor’s three refining plants, touting a host of new orders for training, control equipment and real-time monitoring, although watchdogs environmentalists said the rules are still not enough.
In renewing the Commerce City refinery’s capacity to refine gas, jet fuel and other products at Plants 1 and 3 under the federal Clean Air Act, the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division said it responded to public comments with additional protections:
- Demanding real-time pollutant emissions data delivered directly to the air division
- Add at least six air pollution monitoring systems in surrounding neighborhoods
- New training for Suncor employees including creation of training simulator for problematic fluidized catalytic cracking unit
- Tighten operation and maintenance plans for an automated shutdown system of the catalytic cracking unit
An independent review commissioned by Suncor in 2021 closely examined the refinery’s fluid catalytic cracking units to produce gasoline and sulfur recovery units, which transform poisonous gases into usable sulfur. High pressure in those units can contribute to leaks and cause the kind of white dust and flakes to fall on surrounding Globeville and Elyria-Swansea neighborhoods that have angered residents. Suncor has said the dust is a non-hazardous catalyst.
That report’s implementation plan called for upgraded automatic shutdown equipment at Suncor Plants 1 and 2, at a cost of $12 million.
In announcing the permit renewal, Colorado officials also touted previous agreements they had made with Suncor that are now written into the enforceable permit, including monitoring air quality at the plant fence and providing data on real-time community outreach, advanced emergency notifications, and using the best available technology to reduce emissions.
“We know that Suncor’s operations produce diverse emission sources, which is why it is one of the most regulated entities in Colorado,” said Michael Ogletree, director of the Division of Air Pollution Control. The permits, called Title V of the Clean Air Act section, “are one of several tools we use to protect clean air. Importantly, this permit expands requirements for measuring air pollution at the refinery and in the community to improve transparency for community members and help ensure Suncor’s accountability.”
“Suncor is committed to continuous improvement and meeting our regulatory requirements,” a refinery spokesperson said in an email response to the permit news.
Suncor, Colorado’s only refinery, emits hundreds of thousands of tons a year of greenhouse gases, as well as local pollutants such as volatile organic compounds that contribute to ozone. The refinery has been repeatedly fined and penalized by state regulators for excessive emissions of sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and hydrogen sulfide. All of these compounds can be toxic to human lungs.
In February, Colorado fined the Suncor refinery $10.5 million for three years of air pollution violations, calling it the largest action ever taken against a single facility. The announcement also included resolving a lawsuit through an agreement to double air pollution monitoring at the fence.
That settlement surpassed a $9 million settlement in 2020 for similar prior violations.
Environmental groups say the state should have taken tougher action, given Suncor’s history of violations and fines and its impact on disproportionately minority and low-income neighborhoods.
Monitors that detect contaminants as they leave the fence at industrial locations like Suncor and other Colorado companies, as part of a state law set to take effect in 2023, will look like this. (Suncor photo)
Suncor’s poor record undermines the EPA’s requirement that states trust a company to follow the rules, said Ian Coghill, an Earthjustice attorney.
“The state can only issue a permit if it concludes that Suncor will comply with the permit, and needs to justify why this permit is sufficient when previous permits and enforcement failed to bring Suncor into compliance” previously, Coghill said.
Colorado continues to rely on estimates of the toxins Suncor will emit, rather than requiring reliable measurements of what happens at the refinery, he added. “Without reliable emissions data, community members have no idea the actual levels of pollution coming from the refinery,” Coghill said.
Some elements of the new permit are positive, Coghill said. The state incorporated much of the 2021 third-party report on better training and how to better operate the cracking unit. Fence monitoring is also a good win for the community, she said.
The issuance of the permit now opens new windows for community members and environmental groups to object to the terms while the EPA reviews the state’s language.
Suncor was previously issued a permit renewal for Plant 2 at the Commerce City complex, although that renewal is also still in dispute with some environmental groups. The EPA objected to the initial draft of the Plant 2 permit and later approved a rewrite. But groups like the Center for Biological Diversity used a regulatory window to seek more objections from the EPA, and Colorado is currently drafting those latest permit revisions, according to the center.
Story Type: News
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