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A feeling of concordance between a community group and the Sunoco refinery is in the air.
The Community Labor Refinery Tracking Committee and the Philadelphia-based company agreed to a proposed settlement last week to resolve the committee’s lawsuit. The committee, which was formed to address health and safety issues at the location, originally filed suit in April, alleging Sunoco Inc. had released excessive emissions at its refinery at 3144 Passyunk Ave.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania still needs to approve the settlement, possibly as early as January, said Michael Fiorentino, lead counsel for the committee.
Joanne Rossi, the committee’s president, was happy with the agreement.
"I feel as though we got some extra layers of protection for the community," she said.
As a result of the settlement, the committee, which includes South Philly and Southwest Philly residents, will have access to "root cause analysis" reports that provide in-depth descriptions about flaring incidents.
Rather than going through Freedom of Information Act requirements "to try to get our hands on these things, which can be quite a delay, we will have access to them like the government will," Fiorentino said. "That way we can form our own opinions on whether flaring incidents are being properly handled and corrected."
Rossi was pleased the proposed settlement includes $130,000 for the purchase of air-monitoring equipment, which includes the use of ultraviolet light to trace volatile organic compounds and other pollutants in the air. The air monitors, Rossi said, provide instantaneous readings to users.
The money also would fund a neighborhood air-sampling program, or "bucket brigades," which traps air in a bag sealed inside a bucket that is then sent to a lab for analysis. Due to monetary constraints, the committee had to forego its monthly tests, opting instead to conduct "incident samples."
While Rossi is pleased with Sunoco’s recent measures, she said there is always room for improvement.
"Sunoco can take additional steps to ensure the well-being of the community," she said. "The refinery by nature is a hazardous industry. It’s a polluting industry. There’s new technology coming out everyday. Sunoco could take some initiative and bring in those technologies without the community having to force them to do it."
Gerald Davis, Sunoco’s spokesperson, maintained the company has strived to put safety first during its daily operations.
"Sunoco’s focus has been and continues to be to operate this facility and all of our facilities to the highest standard, safety, reliability and with environmental integrity," he said of the settlement.
FIVE YEARS AGO, the committee did file an intent to sue Sunoco, but was swayed by federal officials who said they were conducting their own investigation.
"The community determined that five years was a long time to wait and violations were occurring during that period," Fiorentino said.
The committee’s lawsuit documented more than 1,000 violations of Sunoco’s air-quality permits from 2002 to 2005, Fiorentino said. The group sought penalties, plant improvements and reductions in emissions.
Earlier this year, Sunoco agreed to a $285 million consent decree filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the city and the Departments of Environmental Protection in Ohio, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania. Part of the money will be used to install new pollution control equipment at the local refinery and continue improvements at refineries in Toledo, Ohio, Tulsa, Okla., and Marcus Hook.
The decree also requires Sunoco to pay a cash penalty of $500,000 to Philadelphia’s Department of Public Health, a division of Air Management Services, and expend more than $3.6 million to implement environmental projects for the city and region.
Fiorentino credited the committee’s legal actions and the consent decree to the intended installation of a $3 million back-up power supply system to the refinery’s catalytic cracker, which breaks larger molecules of crude oil into smaller ones useful for fuel. Power failures sometime release bursts of particles and pollutants into the air, he said.
Sunoco additionally will invest $500,000 in a filtration system to help reduce flaring emissions at the Passyunk Avenue refinery.
With new steps in place, communities can focus on preventative, rather than reactive, measures, Rossi said.
Fiorentino added residents are now able to breathe a partial sigh of relief.
"We’re just pleased that the community was able to finally get some relief here after the length of time they’ve been exposed," he said. "It’s not a magic bullet, but it will provide the community with a greater awareness and greater ability to share in its plight."
