Delaware City Refining Co. receives violation notice for March toxic release

This  notice addresses an incident separate from the highly publicized  May 26 to June 12  sulfur dioxide emissions incident that continued for 19 days and is still in the investigation stage.

In the March incident, the  refinery reported that a carbon monoxide boiler, which is a pollution control device for the refinery’s fluid coking unit, went offline during a routine fan swap. When that occurred,  flue gas from the coking unit bypassed the carbon monoxide boiler and pollution treatment for approximately 10 hours.

That led to the relese of  38,145 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 262,185 pounds of carbon monoxide without required pollution controls in place. Visible smoke was also released, which violated the permit.

The first report of this incident was published the same day on the Delaware Environmental Release Notification System (DERNS) managed by DNREC.

After collection and calculation of emissions data and an investigation, the NOV for the March violations was  issued to the refinery May 29.

An NOV is part of the multi-stage DNREC enforcement process that can include:

1. An initial report or notice of environmental release, which for an industrial facility can mean emissions believed to be over reportable or permitted limits
2. An environmental investigation, including collection of emissions data and investigation into cause of the incident
3. A Notice of Violation, which formally documents DNREC’s understanding of the facts, background and a description of a violation
4. A Notice of Administrative Penalty Assessment, proposing a monetary penalty based on the severity and duration of the violation.
5. A Notice of Conciliation, prescribing specific actions a facility has agreed to take to return to compliance.
6. A DNREC Secretary’s Order, requiring corrective measures to be completed by a set deadline.
7. A possible appeal by a facility of DNREC’s Administrative Order, requirements or penalties, which by law can go to the Environmental Appeals Board and to state court.

DNREC noted  the sulfur dioxide releases reported between May 26 to June 12,  involved  the operational failure of the same control device that led to March release. the carbon monoxide boiler on the refinery’s fluid coking unit.

The refinery has reported that in the most recent incident, a water-tube leak caused excess sulfur dioxide emissions until the refinery repaired the leak and returned the boiler to routine service after almost three weeks of  emissions.

DNREC is in the investigation phase for the May-June refinery incident to determine the full scope and duration of the release, and will proceed through the enforcement steps.

DNREC was criticized for the lack of disclosure regarding the latest  incident.