Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control approved a controversial permit Wednesday allowing a state refinery to ship up to 10,000 barrels of ethanol a day.
The permit will allow New Jersey-based PBF Energy to turn its Delaware City refinery into an East Coast ethanol hub.
DNREC Secretary David Small issued the ruling.
“What the refinery has now proposed to do is bring in ethanol, primarily by rail, and then ship it out across its docks, primarily to other locations," Small said.
Environmental groups say the permit violates the Coastal Zone Act.
The 1971 state law prohibits new facilities along Delaware’s coast that transfer bulk products like fuel from onshore to a ship.
But the Delaware City refinery was built before 1971 and is allowed to continue operations as long as it gets permits for expansions.
This week’s ruling clarifies that the refinery’s ethanol shipments are an allowable expansion under the Coastal Zone Act.
