State environmental officials has fined the Delaware City Refinery $150,000 for illegally shipping millions of gallons of crude oil.
DNREC issued the fine Friday, saying the refinery, owned by PBF Energy, loaded more than 850,000 barrels of oil on barges bound for a handful of refineries along the Delaware River in 2014.
The company is only allowed to ship oil between Delaware City and it’s Paulsboro, New Jersey refinery under its 2013 permit from DNREC.
Any other activity could require a tough to obtain Coastal Zone Act permit.
When confronted with an anonymous tip two years ago about an unauthorized barge, PBF said it was a one-time incident.
But the refinery later admitted to sending 17 different shipments to at least three other facilities – thereby violating the permit.
PBF can appeal the ruling within 30 days. The company didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
