Earth Protect Blog

The Environmental Protection Agency reached a settlement agreement with Suncor Energy after the federal agency found multiple flaws in the Commerce City refinery’s safety reporting systems during a 2020 inspection.

The EPA’s inspection followed a 2019 malfunction that caused the refinery to spew ash and a clay-like gunk across the area, prompting anger in the surrounding community and attention from state lawmakers and regulators. Suncor officials apologized and offered free car washes after the mess blanketed neighborhoods.

Under the settlement agreement, Suncor will pay $60,000 in civil penalties and spend $240,030 on equipment for the South Adams County Fire Department that will help firefighters respond to chemical release accidents at the refinery, according to an EPA news release.

The EPA’s inspection, which took place over three days in September 2020, found Suncor failed to timely report two chemical releases and failed to report sulfuric acid in its industrial batteries to the local emergency responders, the news release said.

The company spent about $12 million to install automated shutdown systems inside two gasoline-producing plants after the 2019 malfunction.

— Noelle Phillips, The Denver Post