The Environmental Protection Agency is ordering Colorado to rethink a Suncor Energy air pollution permit for the third time in two years, leading environmentalists to question whether state regulators are serious about enforcing federal air quality laws at the Commerce City refinery.
This time, the EPA’s order concerns the refinery’s Title V permit for its Plants 1 & 3, which refine crude oil into gasoline and other fuels and asphalt. This order comes on the heels of the EPA twice kicking back the Title V permit for Suncor’s Plant 2 after environmental groups raised objections to some measures within the permit. All three plants are at the refinery’s campus on Brighton Boulevard.
The EPA is asking the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to either revise requirements for monitoring the amount of pollution the refinery emits or to explain its decision-making in the original permit application. The EPA’s order also directs the state to determine whether additional operational requirements are needed to ensure the plants’ fluid catalytic cracking unit, which is used to convert crude oil to petroleum products such as gasoline, is not exceeding pollution limits.
“This order represents an important step forward in addressing the challenges at the Suncor refinery,” EPA regional administrator KC Becker said in an emailed statement. “EPA will continue to work with Colorado to secure the refinery’s compliance with laws and regulations to protect the health of nearby residents.”
The air permit for Plants 1 & 3 was issued on July 9 — six years overdue — after CDPHE submitted it to the EPA for review. At the time, the EPA did not recommend any changes, but Earthjustice, an environmental law group, filed a petition on behalf of the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club that asked the federal agency to kick the permit back to the state for some revisions.
The EPA agreed with five claims in the petition and partially agreed with two other claims. The EPA’s recommendations to the state are similar to the order it issued for Suncor’s Title V permit for its Plant 2, which remains in limbo after two objections from the EPA.
That’s why environmentalists were surprised state regulators did not include the EPA’s guidance for Plant 2 when it submitted the permit application for Plants 1 & 3, said Jeremy Nichols, a senior advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
“We were just baffled as to why CDPHE is being so obstinate here,” Nichols said.
The sticking point for environmentalists is how much monitoring should be conducted at the Suncor refinery to determine the amount of harmful emissions, especially for carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter, which is made up of tiny particles of dust, ash, soot and smoke that are belched into the air during the refining process.
The refinery also spews nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, sulfur dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and other toxins into the air. Those pollutants foul the air and contribute to the Front Range’s ozone pollution and cause climate change. They also make people sick, especially those who suffer from breathing problems such as asthma. The air permit determines how much of those pollutants the refinery is allowed to release at any given time.
The state presumes emission rates are a constant and will stay at the same levels, but Suncor’s repeated violations for exceeding the limits established in its existing permits show that is not the case, Nichols said.
“This is about verifying compliance and the only way of ensuring compliance is direct emissions testing,” he said. “The EPA agrees with us on that.”
Efforts to reach Suncor officials and CDPHE spokespeople on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
The two permits for Suncor’s three production plants are legacies from when those plants were owned by two different companies. When Suncor, which is based in Calgary, Canada, bought those plants the separate permits remained even though all three plants are now owned by one operator.
Both permits were long overdue when CDPHE’s Air Pollution Control Division submitted them to the EPA for approval. Under federal law, Suncor was allowed to refine crude oil under its older permits and now that the EPA has asked for revisions in both renewed permits the refinery is operating under the latest versions of those.
In August 2023, the EPA made the rare move of objecting to sections of an air permit for a second time.
In that case, multiple environmental groups argued that the state was not doing enough to limit Suncor’s pollution. They saw the EPA’s ruling as a victory.
However, the Plant 2 permit still is under revision, and environmentalists and people who live in the neighborhoods surrounding the refinery are increasingly frustrated with CDPHE’s handling of the permit.
On Dec. 10, CDPHE hosted a public hearing on the latest version of the Plant 2 permit and critics lambasted the agency for what they see as a reluctance to more strictly enforce Suncor’s pollution. They accused the state of being more interested in protecting Suncor’s bottom line than the community’s health.
Nichols said the EPA’s latest objection to portions of a Suncor permit is one more example of the state failing to regulate the refinery. And he wants the state to finally follow environmentalists’ demands and the EPA’s recommendations.
“Hopefully it will sink in with CDPHE,” Nichols said. “It’s unfortunate that CDPHE is so hellbent on defying the EPA. It’s disappointing we keep having to do this.”