Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn M. Garvin issued a Conciliation Order by Consent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP that among other things calls for extinguishing the emergency flare at its Claymont site.
The order calls for a cash penalty of $600,000 from Sunoco and an additional $150,000 for an environmental improvement project.
The order calls for the decommissioning of an emergency flare by March 31, 2019, and sets out penalties if that decommissioning deadline is not met.
The order came after DNREC’s Division of Air Quality learned the emergency flare adjacent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP’s Marcus Hook site had been modified without a permit to combust gas from other sources in a non-emergency capacity.
In addition to alleged violations for the modification and operation of the flare without a permit, DNREC also found that the company violated the department’s new source review requirements because of the increased emissions that resulted from the modified use of the flare. DNREC also claimed Sunoco violated reporting requirements by the company’s failure to notify DNREC of the modifications and emissions.
The DNREC order allows Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP to continue to use the flare to combust specific waste streams at specified emissions levels, in addition to emergency use. However, the flare must be decommissioned upon completion of construction of a new flare, to be located in Pennsylvania.
The Sunoco refinery has been shut down, with the site converted to other purposes. A small portion of the Sunoco site extends into Delaware but has not seen any activity, due to Coastal Zone Act restrictions.
Recent legislation would allow industrial sites, in certain situations, within the Sunoco complex in Delaware.
The order can be found on the DNREC website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Enforcement.aspx.
