Sunoco's South Philadelphia Refinery incidents lead to charges

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Wednesday, September 13, 2000

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Refinery incidents lead to charges

By Mark Jaffe

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

The city yesterday charged Sunoco's South Philadelphia refinery with 15

air-quality violations related to a string of fires, explosions and

air-pollution incidents over the summer.

The refinery was cited for three separate incidents. Each violation has a

maximum fine of $25,000.

" We are concerned that so many incidents happened in such a short space of

time, " said Fine, director of Air Management Services, the city

agency that oversees air quality.

Fine said his agency would meet with Sunoco Inc. officials to review the

incidents. " We want to get a clear idea of what happened and what can be

done to prevent these accidents in the future, " he said.

Fine said Sunoco can appeal the citations to the city's Licenses Review

Board and, if the two sides are still at odds, the case could go to court.

Gerald , a spokesman for Sunoco, said the company received the

violation notices yesterday and is reviewing them.

But he said that the company would arrange quickly to meet with city

officials and that it " hopes to address the issues in a spirit of

cooperation. "

" No one feels it more than Sunoco when things of this kind happen, "

said.

Community groups issued a statement yesterday calling for stronger

inspections and enforcement actions by the city.

" South Philadelphia deserves reasonable assurances these events will not be

repeated, said Schultz, associate director of Clean Water Action, a

local environmental group.

Schultz said the community was concerned about U.S. Labor Department

complaints filed against the refinery dealing with operator training.

The first accident in the most recent events occurred on June 21, when an

operating failure resulted in the release of a huge cloud of alumina silica

catalyst - a gritty, yellow dust - which settled on the surrounding

community. While the dust is not toxic, Sunoco recommended that people not

come in prolonged contact with it, and that individuals with pulmonary

problems avoid the dust.

" If reports linking operator error to pollution emissions from the catalytic

cracking unit are true, " Schultz said, " the incident might have been

avoided. "

On June 30, an underground pipe carrying heated gasoline under high pressure

exploded and caused a fire. One worker was hurt. The explosion was so strong

that it rattled windows throughout South Philadelphia. It took two hours to

control the fire, which billowed thick, black smoke and caused traffic jams

on the Schuylkill Expressway and the nearby C. Platt Bridge.

The final incident occurred on Sept. 7 when an explosion and fire rocked the

heat exchanger of a crude-oil unit. Three Sunoco workers and one city

fireman were injured.

In 1995, the city and community groups were preparing to take Sunoco to

court over air-pollution problems at the refinery. But after two years of

negotiations, the community, city and company reached an agreement.

Sunoco agreed to pay $150,000 in civil fines and spend $5 million to upgrade

air-pollution controls at the refinery. It also provided $350,000 to the

community for environmental projects.

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Mark Jaffe's e-mail address is mjaffe@... © 2000 Philadelphia

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