More community air monitoring is coming around the Delaware City refinery.
Funding recently added to the just passed FY 2026 Bond Bill for the monitoring, along with matching funds from DNREC’s air program will go to a proposal by the Clean Air Council for air monitoring and community involvement.
The proposal was awarded grant money by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in October 2023, but it was canceled by the EPA in March of this year.
DNREC Secretary Greg Patterson explains the Clean Air Council’s original plan i now essentially being funded with state dollars.
"This is a proposal that they had put together with a lot of community involvement a little advice from DNREC'S Division of Air Quality that they had approved by the EPA for half a million dollars. Not only for air monitors again out in the residential areas around the refinery, but also some community involvement tools, including an app for reporting environmental conditions," said Patterson.
Patterson notes there will also be some training and outreach to help the community understand air quality issues.
The Clean Air Council will select the locations for the air monitors within the community.
Patterson says any new monitoring near the refinery will be in addition to air monitoring already there.
"DNREC already has one air monitor in the area that people can look at in real-time,” said Patterson. “It's right between the refinery and Delaware City, a little east of the refinery, which is generally the direction that the wind blows. Which is one of the reasons that it's there."
Patterson adds the Clean Air Council’s original plan called for a year to find locations and get equipment in place, and then have it in place for two years after that.
$250,000 of the project cost was included in the FY26 Bond Bill, and DNREC will consult with the Clean Air Council and fund the balance.
