The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control has developed a proposed air pollution permit renewal for the Delaware City Refining Company, a unit of New Jersey-based PBF Energy.
DNREC will submit the proposed federal Clean Air Act Title V major source air pollution permit renewal to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for a 45-day EPA review period before DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin can grant the final air permit for DCRC’s Delaware City refinery.
“It is important to facilities to have up-to-date permits to operate under because the permit documents how they must operate to remain in compliance with applicable air regulations,” Garvin said after approving DCRC’s permit application that led to DNREC’s development of the proposed permit renewal.
Keeping the refinery open has proved to be controversial among some in the environmental community. At the same time, refining capacity in the region has plunged with the closing of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions (former Sunoco) refinery in Philadelphia a few years ago. That refinery was several times larger than the Delaware City site.
DNREC held a public hearing on July 14, 2020 for the refinery’s air pollution permit renewal, with comments accepted through July 31, 2020. The proposed permit renewal has incorporated applicable requirements of Delaware Air Regulation permits for the refinery’s Ethanol Marketing Project; elimination of the maximum data capture requirements from the crude nitrogen oxides continuous emission monitoring systems; incorporation of requirements from a consent decree issued to a previous owner of the facility in “The United States of America et al., v. Motiva Enterprises LLC; replacement of the EPA’s Tanks 4.09 requirement with the Tanks ESP Pro Version; and modification of short-term NOx limits per the July 2019 settlement agreement between DNREC and the refinery.
Comments on renewing permit
DNREC received numerous comments on the draft permit renewal and responded to the comments in a technical response memo from the DNREC Division of Air Quality. The TRM is posted as an attachment to the hearing officer’s report with the DNREC’s Secretary Order at https://dnrec.alpha.delaware.gov/secretarys-orders/permitting/.
The TRM also discusses revisions to be made to the draft permit renewal as a result of comments the department received. Information presented at the Delaware City Refining Company public hearing and comments received at the hearing and during the public comment period can be found at dnrec.delaware.gov.
Upon receipt of DNREC’s proposed permit renewal for the refinery, the U.S. EPA will begin reviewing it. Questions about the EPA’s review process can be directed to Mary Cate Opila, Air Permits Branch Chief, EPA Region III, email: opila.marycate@epa.gov.
The refinery was closed for a time more than a decade after former owner Valero piled up massive losses due to sluggish demand for its products and operating problems. At the time, Valero was making plans to demolish the refinery, which specializes in processing various grades of crude oil.
Private equity-funded PBF, with the help of financial assistance from the state, reopened the refinery and has operated the site. PBF went on the acquire smaller refineries on both coasts, the Midwest and Gulf Coast.
