In the early morning hours on Wednesday, a compressor failure led to the 139 pounds of sulfur dioxide being released at Delaware City Refining Co. on Wrangle Hill Road.
The release at the site owned by PBR Energy was accompanied by flaring for 16. Flaring, which produces a flame, is used to relieve pressure when equipment fails during the refining process.
The incident is under investigation by the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control.
East Coast refineries, including a nearby refinery in Trainer, PA have been undergoing planned, as well as unplanned maintenance from equipment failures this fall. The Trainer refinery is near the Philadelphia International Airport.
The maintenance work, combined with a recent break in the Colonial Pipeline gasoline pipeline that runs from the Southern states to New York City, has led to concerns that gas prices will stay up, even though sites are converting to lower-cost winter fuels
