Delaware News

DNREC issues Conciliation Order by Consent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP addressing alleged air pollution violations

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Air Quality | Date Posted: Friday, March 16, 2018



DOVER – Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn M. Garvin has issued a Conciliation Order by Consent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP addressing alleged violations of Delaware’s regulations governing air pollution. The order calls for a cash penalty of $600,000 from Sunoco and an additional $150,000 for an environmental improvement project. In addition, the DNREC order requires the decommissioning of an emergency flare at the company’s Claymont, Del. facility, by March 31, 2019, and sets out stipulated penalties if that decommissioning deadline is not met.

The order reflects that DNREC’s Division of Air Quality learned the emergency flare at the Claymont facility, adjacent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP’s Marcus Hook facility in Pennsylvania, 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, and violated reporting requirements by the company’s failing 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. Failure by the company to decommission the flare by the March 31 deadline as the DNREC order requires will result in payment of a stipulated penalty of $1,000 per day from April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019. Operation of the flare after June 30, 2019, is not authorized in any way by the order and may subject Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP to additional enforcement action.

In addition to the $600,000 administrative penalty, Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP will pay $150,000 for an environmental improvement project that supports the transition of Delaware’s ambient monitoring network for air pollution from filter-based PM2.5 (particulate) monitoring to continuous monitors that will be located throughout the state.

The DNREC Secretary’s Order resolves each of the alleged air quality violations related to unpermitted modification and operation of the emergency flare by Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP. The conciliation order can be found on the DNREC website at www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Enforcement.aspx.

Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP, consented to and has signed the DNREC Conciliation Order by Consent No. 2018-A-0019.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 59

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DNREC issues Conciliation Order by Consent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP addressing alleged air pollution violations

Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control | Division of Air Quality | Date Posted: Friday, March 16, 2018



DOVER – Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control Secretary Shawn M. Garvin has issued a Conciliation Order by Consent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP addressing alleged violations of Delaware’s regulations governing air pollution. The order calls for a cash penalty of $600,000 from Sunoco and an additional $150,000 for an environmental improvement project. In addition, the DNREC order requires the decommissioning of an emergency flare at the company’s Claymont, Del. facility, by March 31, 2019, and sets out stipulated penalties if that decommissioning deadline is not met.

The order reflects that DNREC’s Division of Air Quality learned the emergency flare at the Claymont facility, adjacent to Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP’s Marcus Hook facility in Pennsylvania, 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, and violated reporting requirements by the company’s failing 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. Failure by the company to decommission the flare by the March 31 deadline as the DNREC order requires will result in payment of a stipulated penalty of $1,000 per day from April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019. Operation of the flare after June 30, 2019, is not authorized in any way by the order and may subject Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP to additional enforcement action.

In addition to the $600,000 administrative penalty, Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP will pay $150,000 for an environmental improvement project that supports the transition of Delaware’s ambient monitoring network for air pollution from filter-based PM2.5 (particulate) monitoring to continuous monitors that will be located throughout the state.

The DNREC Secretary’s Order resolves each of the alleged air quality violations related to unpermitted modification and operation of the emergency flare by Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP. The conciliation order can be found on the DNREC website at www.dnrec.delaware.gov/Info/Pages/SecOrders_Enforcement.aspx.

Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals, LP, consented to and has signed the DNREC Conciliation Order by Consent No. 2018-A-0019.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 59

-30-

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  , , , , ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.