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SUNCOR Gets Complicated
Developing
In Short: Colorado health officials issued a final water quality permit for the Suncor refinery in Commerce City, imposing stricter limits on PFAS and other toxins.
The controversial Suncor refinery in Commerce City, Colorado, must sharply limit water discharges of PFAS ‘forever chemicals,’ benzene, arsenic, selenium, and other toxins as part of a final water quality permit renewal issued Wednesday by Colorado health department officials.
Measurements of PFOS, a particularly troubling form of PFAS, hit 2,500 parts per trillion in June, compared with the EPA’s updated drinking water health advisory of 0.02 ppt for the chemical.
New PFAS restrictions of 70 parts per trillion won’t be enforceable until April 2027, state officials said, as federal rules require giving Suncor enough time to build treatment facilities.
State officials and environmental groups noted that Suncor PFAS discharges spiked frequently since a December 2022 fire at the refinery, with discharge tests hitting as much as 2,500 parts per trillion in June of 2023.
Some of the tougher restrictions on Suncor were signaled as early as November 2021, when the state hailed its draft renewal of the refinery’s water discharge permit as a national model.
One outflow measured at Suncor registered November readings at 1,100 ppt of PFOS in discharges, and then 218 parts ppt in May, according to Earthjustice.
The Suncor refinery in Commerce City last June recorded PFAS in its discharge water into Sand Creek at more than 10,000 times the EPA drinking water limit for the substance set last year.
‘It is all connected. Suncor has the resources to build the infrastructure to meet stricter standards, period. People over profits,’ said an environmental advocate.
‘Suncor continues to get years to comply at the expense of all of us. The impacts to water quality and downstream communities like Thornton will remain a priority for GreenLatinos,’ said another advocate.
‘While we are pleased to see PFAS limits included in this permit, we are left wondering why Colorado didn’t include the most protective limits based on current scientific understanding about the dangers of these chemicals to the surrounding communities,’ said Ean Tafoya, state director of GreenLatinos.
‘This permit gives Suncor an extraordinarily long time to comply with permit limits. The company won’t have to meet its PFAS limits for three years. For several other pollutants, Suncor will get more than six years to comply,’ said Mike Freeman, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Rocky Mountain office.
‘Forever chemicals,’ or PFAS, are an increasing toxic burden on Colorado.
What this adds
Environmental groups have previously praised some of the tougher provisions in the draft version of the Suncor permit, which went out for community comments and regulators’ revisions.
What's still developing
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- >> Find more coverage Environmental groups have previously praised some of the tougher provisions in the draft version of the Suncor permit, which went out for community comments and regulators’ revisions.
Sources
- The Colorado Sunlink