The Delaware City Refinery has notified DNREC it will emit significantly higher levels of sulfur dioxide than normal during some repairs.
Repairs on equipment at its coker carbon monoxide boiler is causing the refinery to shift from a primary pollution control process to a secondary one.
This will result in the higher levels of sulfur dioxide being released, a similar shift happened for 17 days last May and June.
DNREC says it will monitor the situation, and it expects the increased emissions to last for four weeks which exceeds the facility’s permitted limits.
The refinery will face a violation and penalties for exceeding the limits.
House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown – whose district includes the refinery – says it's unacceptable for the refinery to put the community in harm’s way.
She argues this is not an unavoidable accident, but instead the result of decisions made by the refinery including delaying necessary maintenance despite clear warning and opportunities to act sooner.
"I’m looking at this situation not only as a lawmaker, but as a parent raising my children just a few miles away. Families in our community deserve to feel safe in their homes and confident that their health and safety are being protected - period, end of story,” said Minor-Brown in a statement.
A DNREC order following a previous incident is requiring the refinery to install fenceline sensors to measure air quality on the edges of its property and make the data publicly available.
Four sensors will be put in place according to the refinery, and DNREC is urging it to complete a website soon to share the readings from those sensors.
"I sincerely hope the refinery takes these actions seriously and that this is the last time I have to issue a statement like this, because we should not have to continue dealing with preventable environmental and public health risks,” said Minor-Brown.
In the meantime, DNREC is urging the DCRC to report the results on a regular basis.
