Suncor Power’s oil refinery in Commerce Metropolis launched propane vapors into the air on Jan. 31 however didn’t violate any emissions limits, the Colorado Division of Public Well being and Setting mentioned.
The discharge triggered an alert from the refinery’s public notification system. No accidents have been reported through the incident, the corporate’s alerts mentioned.
Suncor recognized the propane leak as a “vapor leak.” The leak was in a processing unit in Plant 1 close to Brighton Boulevard, mentioned Kate Malloy, a spokeswoman for the state well being division’s Air Air pollution Management Division.
The unit is a chunk of kit that has been shut down since a December malfunction that induced Suncor to shutter its facility via the primary three months of this 12 months.
The unit nonetheless had pressurized fuel within the system, Malloy mentioned in an electronic mail. Suncor knowledgeable state air high quality regulators that it remoted the leak and depressurized that part of piping.
Loa Esquilin Garcia, a Suncor spokeswoman, mentioned the leak didn’t set again the corporate’s upkeep on the refinery and didn’t intervene with its plans to restart operations by the tip of the primary quarter.
“Our precedence is to restart safely,” Garcia mentioned.
Suncor first stopped operations throughout an excessive chilly spell on Dec. 21 that tripped its hydrogen plant. On Dec. 24, a fireplace erupted on the refinery, and the corporate determined to cease producing gasoline, diesel, jet gas and asphalt for a minimum of the primary quarter of 2023 whereas it repairs tools broken by the chilly and does different upkeep.
The malfunctions induced the refinery to exceed the quantity of pollution it emits into the air and water. Since Dec. 21, the corporate has reported extreme emissions of hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide and benzene.
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